ROYAL CITY - Royal High School launched the 2011 South Central A Conference East baseball campaign last Saturday with a split against Connell.

The Eagles won the first contest, 14-6, after Royal had built a 6-4 lead. Royal came back with some tough pitching to win the second game, 4-1.

The Knights are 1-1 in the SCAC East and 4-6 overall. They travel to Wahluke Saturday to meet the 0-4, 2-8 Warriors. The first game will start at 11 a.m.

Starter Danny Vermeer got the Knights through the early part of  the first game with pitching that kept the Eagle bats under control. Then errors led to five Connell runs in the fifth inning and an 8-6 deficit. The Eagles added five more runs in the seventh.

"We had trouble getting mentally back into the game," coach Daren Christensen said. "The team had four errors that took us out of the game."

The highlights were a complete game for Vermeer and 3-for-4 hitting for catcher Uli Montoya. Vermeer fanned four Eagles.

The second game showed the Knights can come back. Trailing 1-0, they scored two runs in the fifth and two in the sixth.

"I was happy with the effort that the team had and that they worked well together and got a solid win," Christensen said. "It has been a very long time since we had a victory against Connell."

Kent Christensen was stellar on the mound. He went the distance with six strikeouts and only one walk. He rapped a crucial double in the sixth to drive in Zach Christensen and give Royal a two-run lead.

"Overall we are making improvements and continue to battle to the end," coach Christensen said.

Uli Montoya, who had a good day behind the plate, batted 2-for-4. Zach Christensen batted 2-for-3 with a double.

Earlier in the week, the Knights dropped a pair of non-league contests to Highland, 10-3 and 6-1. Royal  battled most of the first game, but it could not make up an early 5-1 Scottie lead.

Kent Christensen went four innings on the mound with four strikeouts and one walk. Tanner Whitaker batted 3-for-4 with two runs batted in. Rick Ramirez went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

Walks, hit batsmen and errors led to an early 3-0 Highland lead in the second game. The Knights struggled on offense. Twice they failed to hit with runners at second and third with one out.