NORTH ROBINSON — The unbeaten Colonel Crawford Eagles had their first real test of the season.

The Eagles hosted the Wynford Royals, who also came into the game unbeaten in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

And the Royals came out and jumped all over Crawford starter Drayton Burkhart, taking a 5-0 lead in the middle of the second inning.

Colonel Crawford coach Dan Gorbett said that he wasn’t sure just how his Eagles would respond to the adversity.

“We got down 5-0 and I told the kids ‘we’ve never been in that situation this year, how are we going to respond?’ We said we can’t expect to get five runs in one inning, so we have to chip away and seven and eight got base hits and nine got a ground ball to get them in,” Gorbett said. “The bottom of the order picked us up there. From that point on, everybody started hitting all the way through the lineup. I thought that was kind of the key.”

The Eagles bounced back in a big way, as freshman Micah Thomas and senior Cade Hamilton each collected four hits in the Eagles’ 12-7 win over the Royals Monday night.

With the win, the Eagles improved to 9-0 in the N10, 13-0 overall. Wynford fell to 8-1 in the conference, 11-5 overall.

Wynford came out and attacked Burkhart, scoring twice in the first inning and three more times in the second inning. Burkhart came into the game with a 1.30 ERA.

“We were facing the best pitcher in the league, so to score seven runs against him, we’re in good shape moving forward,” Wynford coach Tom Smith said.

“We’ve been hitting all year. We’re leading the league in batting average and second in runs scored, I think, so we’ve been hitting the ball. To come in and hit the best pitcher in the league like that, that says something.”

Gorbett was not surprised that the Royals hit the ball.

“I’ve never seen (Burkhart) hit two batters in a season much less hit two in an inning,” Gorbett said. “He said his hands were slippery on his slider and it fell out, kind of slipped out of his hands.

“They scored two runs in that inning and the ball never left the infield. He had that slow start, and he came back. Once he came back, he picked it up a notch. He really finished strong.”

Wynford took a 2-0 lead in the first then got a double from Avery Langenderfer and run-scoring singles from Leyton Appleby, Cody Taylor, and Spencer Miller to take the 5-0 lead.

The Eagles came back quickly in the bottom of the second, scoring twice. Brennan Hamilton singled, Mason McKibben doubled and Caleb Lohr and Thomas each knocked in runs.

Crawford took the lead in the fourth, scoring four times. Hamilton doubled down the right field line, knocking in a run and Carson Feichtner added a run-scoring single.

Crawford increased the lead to 10-5 in the fifth on singles from Mason McKibben, Thomas, and Hamilton.

The Eagles got two in the sixth on singles from Thomas and Hamilton. Wynford got two in the seventh on a run-scoring double from Dylon Robinson.

“(Wynford is) a good team,” Gorbett said. “They put the bat on the ball, and it will be a tough game Wednesday with them.”

Gorbett was pleased with his offense.

“Micah has really been coming on strong,” he said. “He had a great game and Cade can put that shift on and put that bunt down there and he had that nice hit down the line, so he also had a great game.”

Freshman Sam Collene started for the Royals and went four innings, striking out seven.

“The strike zone was really tight so (Sam’s) pitch count got up early and they started hitting him, because, when you have to throw the ball in the middle of the plate, they’re going to hit you,” Smith said. “The strike zone was pretty tight, and he just got tired there in the fifth inning and they hit him, they put the ball in play.”

Zach Harer went two innings, striking out one and Grant McGuire finished up.

Cody Taylor had four hits for the Royals and Miller added two hits.

Box score

Colonel Crawford 12, Wynford 7

Wynford                    230 000 2        7      12       5

Colonel Crawford   020 442 X      12      13       1

WP: Drayton Burkhart (6 SO)

LP: Sam Collene (7 SO)

HR: None.

Triples: None.

Doubles: (W) Dylon Robinson, Avery Langenderfer; (CC) Cade Hamilton, Mason McKibben.

Multiple hits: (W) Cody Taylor 4, Spencer Miller; (CC) Micah Thomas 4, Cade Hamilton 4, Mason McKibben.

Records: Wynford 11-5, 8-1 N10; Colonel Crawford 13-0, 9-0 N10.

Next: Colonel Crawford at Wynford, Wednesday.