Gideon Lesslie pitched 3.2 innings of scoreless relief and drove in a run as the Lynx scored early and often to trigger the mercy rule in the CIC Tournament first round game at Mulcahy Stadium.

Dimond drilled four doubles by Shane Stephan, Caleb Cooke, Brian Coleman and Aiden Ray and had eight different players score runs.

Stephan, a senior leadoff hitter, ripped a double to start the game and came home on Cooke's double. Cooke, a freshman two-hole hitter, finished 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBIs.

Peyton Montagna was a terror on the base paths with four of his team's nine stolen bags, but East catcher Andrew Malone got the last laugh when he ended the fourth inning by throwing out Ray at third base.

Ray started and struck out three batters in 1.1 innings before being pulled after fewer than 30 pitches, leaving him eligible to start tomorrow's second round game against Chugiak. The right-hander has struck out a CIC-best 46 batters in 27 innings across six appearances on the season.

Lesslie came in relief and was lights, striking out three of the first four batters he faced. He also fielded his position nicely, making the play on three consecutive 1-3 putouts.  He fielded one bare-handed and fired a missile to first base.

Lesslie came into the game with eight innings all season; then pitched nearly half of that in a playoff game to lower his season ERA to 1.81. 

In the first inning, Dimond catcher Carson Engstrom threw out a base runner at second, in large part because the East kid didn't slide. If he had, more than likely he would have been safe.

In the third inning, Engstrom made a diving catch on a high pop up behind the plate. He spun around, threw off his mask, located the ball up the elevator shaft and made the catch. Not easy.

Dimond also turned a 6-4-3 double play in the fourth to erase Edison Polanco's leadoff walk.

The fifth-seeded Lynx (10-7) advanced to the tournament’s second round and will face fourth-seeded Chugiak (11-6) on Wednesday night.