ROYAL CITY - Royal High School and Warden High School split a South Central A Conference East baseball doubleheader at Royal Saturday, and both teams remain in the race for the top.

Warden is a solid program that was in the 2B state tournament last year and played two years ago in the state championship game. The Cougars looked like a state tournament team in the second game Saturday, winning 7-1.

Royal looked dominant in the first game, leading 9-2 after four innings. The Knights won 9-8, weathering a wild 6-run rally in the sixth inning fueled by Royal errors.

Senior second baseman Anthony Westcott took the mound in the sixth inning to thwart the rally. He pitched goose eggs over the last two innings to seal the victory for the Knights.

In the first game, Senior Brady Dixon kept the Cougars in check, giving up two runs through four innings. The Knights gave him plenty of run support.

In the first inning, senior Kent Christensen crushed a 2-run homer to get the Knights on the board. He hadn't hit one out even in practice and was sprinting until Coach Buster told him to jog as he rounded first.

In the second inning, the Knights scored three more runs. They added two more in the third and fourth innings.

"It was the fifth inning that the wheels came off," coach Daren Christensen said.

With the bases loaded and two outs, the Knights had errors on two plays that would have gotten them out of the inning. Those errors allowed the Cougars to score 6 runs to bring the score to 9-8.

In the second game, things started slow for the Knights and stayed slow. They had no hits until a fifth inning single by Kent Christensen.

As the mound starter, Christensen kept the Cougars off the board until the fourth inning, when they scored 2 runs. Suffering shoulder soreness, he gave way to Westcott.

After the Cougars scored three more runs in the fifth, sophomore Aaron Johnson came on in relief and held the Cougars to two more runs.

The Knights put the ball in play again all game, but the Cougars where solid on defense and made the plays.

The Knights host Pateros today at 11a.m., and go to Quincy on Saturday for a doubleheader.