BUCYRUS — Bucyrus dropped a five-spot on Mohawk in the second inning.

But Warriors coach Eric Hoover had an ace in the hole to let his team to get back into the game.

Brayden Chester relieved starting pitcher Bryce Hannam with two outs in the Bucyrus second and five runs in. Chester allowed just one more run over the next five innings to allow Mohawk to rally for an 11-6 Northern 10 Athletic Conference victory at Veterans Memorial Field Thursday.

“He did a great job on the mound,” Hoover said of his junior right-hander. “He threw a little bit against them on Tuesday (a 12-3 Warrior win). I didn’t want to start him for that reason. But it turned out, he pitched most of the game anyway.”

Chester scattered three hits over his five-plus innings and allowed just a single run, in the seventh inning, on a single by Malachi Bayless, a balk, a ground out and a sacrifice fly. He struck out six and walked none along the way.

“He’s a very good pitcher. He’s around the zone all the time,” Bucyrus coach Sean Maudsley said. “That’s what a team like us should like, a guy who’s always around the zone. But sometimes, we like a guy who’s not always around the zone. We can be selective on those guys.”

Hannam seemed to be cruising, recording the first two outs in the second, before Brayden Campbell dumped a single into right field.

What could have been an innocuous two-out single opened the floodgates for the Redmen. Brock Frost, Brody Higginbotham, and Bayless all walked to plate the first run.

Weston Delaney singled up the middle to bring home two more. Riley Parker walked and Cody Pennington singled to drive in two, knocking Hannam from the mound.

“(Bryce) was mowing them down pretty good and then, just like that — we had two outs and nobody on and they score five runs,” Hoover said. “And we didn’t have any errors.”

Once Chester stabilized things defensively, the Warriors offense started the comeback.

Mohawk (2-0, 2-0 N10) got one back in the third on a single Ben Bogner, a walk, a ground ball and a wild pitch.

The Warriors then scored three in each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to turn the score around to 10-5 in their favor. They used four hits in the fourth — including a double by Drew Woodland — and three hits in the fifth.

Three walks fueled the sixth inning.

Kam Lewis went the first 4 1/3 innings, allowing six hits with three walks for six runs.

“I had no problem with the way Kam pitched today,” Maudsley said. “He pitched very good, consistent. He walked some, but I have to give Mohawk credit. They had very timely hitting tonight. We had seven walks and all seven came around to score.”

Nick Golling led the Warriors’ offense with three hits, two runs scored, and a run batted in. Woodland had two hits — both doubles — scored three and drove in one. Elias Magallanes had two hits and two RBIs and Kaden Stober singled and drove home three.

“Brayden came in and we stayed aggressive and confident at the plate,” Hoover said. “We didn’t start pressing. There was a lot of game left at that time. We kept chipping away at it, scoring every inning.”

Parker singled twice for the Bucyrus (0-2, 0-2 N10). Bayless, Campbell, Delaney, Pennington, and Noah Burke each singled for the Redmen’s seven hits.

“That (second) was a very, very good inning for us,” Maudsley said. “I thought we had good approaches at the plate. We swung well early in the count and put good aluminum on it., hit the middle of the ball. It was our best inning of the year, by far. We just have to back that up with a couple more good innings.”

“It’s a good start for us in the league,” Hoover said. “We’re a young group. It was a nice day to come out and get a game in. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”

“Today. Mohawk did what they had to do to beat us,” Maudsley said. “And that’s what they did, they hit the ball.”

Box score

Bucyrus      001 333 1     11      11       0

Mohawk     050 000 1        6        7       1

WP: Brayden Chester (6 SO, 0 W)

LP: Kam Lewis (3 SO, 3 W)

HR: None.

Triples: None.

Doubles: (M) Drew Woodland 2.

Multiple hits: (M) Nick Golling 3, Elias Magallanes, Drew Woodland; (B) Riley Parker.

Records: Mohawk 2-0, 2-0 N10; Bucyrus 0-2, 0-2 N10.

Next: Norwalk St. Paul at Mohawk (2), Saturday; Fremont St. Joseph at Bucyrus, Saturday.