GREENLAND -- Greenland danced around raindrops, then unleashed a flood of runs on Poyen in a 12-2 run-rule win in the first round of the Class 2A state baseball tournament on Thursday.
Rain swept through the region Thursday and caused a slight delay for the opening game. But once the system moved through, the Pirates took care of business as the No. 1 seed from the 2A-West advanced to the second round.
"Our guys did a good job with runners in scoring position," said Greenland Coach Jordan Larkan. "Especially in some innings with two outs with runners at second and third. We had some good at-bats with some singles that produced some runs."
Three Pirates drove in two runs each, and Brandon Vaughan was 3 for 4 to pace Greenland's offense. Jack Stockton also had two hits, and J.R. Selvey added a double and Kade Gobel belted a triple to go along with two RBI. Vaughan and Stockton also had two RBI.
Greenland (24-5) never trailed in the game behind pitcher Carter Jackson, who went six innings and struck out four. Ryan Ray took the loss for Poyen (9-13).
The Pirates took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Brayton Roberts worked a one-out walk and scored on Hank Ramsey's RBI single. Selvey drove in Ramsey with a double and Andrew McArdle added an RBI single to score Selvey.
The lead swelled to 5-0 in the third on run-scoring singles by Stockton and Jackson and that was more than enough for the Greenland pitcher.
Poyen finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth on a wild pitch as Karter Felty, who had singled to open the inning, advanced on a single by Trenton Russell and another walk to make it a 6-1 game.
The Pirates scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to salt the game away. Two walks and a single loaded the bases with no outs before Gobel belted a two-run triple to left and a 8-2 lead. Vaughan followed with a run-scoring single and Stockton drove in another run with a single.
Larkan said he did not consider removing Jackson from the mound.
"As far as our pitching goes, we're pretty much just taking it one game at a time," said Larkan. "If we need to throw everyone on a game to get the win, we'll do it. The goal is to win this one and move on to the next one."
Greenland will take on Palestine-Wheatley at 10 a.m. today in a second-round matchup. Palestine-Wheatley knocked off Rison 5-1 on Thursday.