NEDERLAND — Brendan Dunkleberger so much as let two Del Rio runners reach third base. They never scored.

Mid-County gave the Nederland pitcher plenty of run support Friday and opened up the East Texas Senior Babe Ruth tournament with an 8-0 win over Del Rio. Mid-County lost to Eagle Pass 4-1 later Friday.

Dunkleberger, a rising senior at Nederland, struck out eight Del Rio batters — exactly two in each of the first four innings — and held the team to three hits in five innings. Del Rio mustered only three more hits off Jacob Martin.

“I wasn’t necessarily going for strikeouts,” Dunkleberger said. “Getting down in a groove, I just started making good pitches.”

Mid-County pounded seven hits and pushed across six runs in the third inning. Leadoff man Kody Kolb laced two hits to lead the Southeast Texas bunch.

Their bats woke up after not recording a hit through two frames.

“Slow start at the plate, but we did about what we expected to do,” Collins said. “I knew Jimmy would keep us in the game. If we can get four or five, six innings out of him, we’ll be in good shape.”Dunkleberger found himself in a serious jam just once, when Del Rio placed runners on first and third with two outs in the fifth. Catcher Chase Warren ended the threat throwing out Brian Debinski at second.

By that time, Mid-County was already up 8-0.

“You can’t win without scoring runs,” Dunkleberger said. “It definitely helped a lot.”

Mid-County capitalized on two hits and four walks in the six-run third inning. A dropped fly ball from Devaun Anderson at right field allowed two runs to score.

Debinski was charged with those six runs in 2 2/3 innings. He threw one strikeout.

Del Rio’s Daniel Gonzalez allowed two runs on five hits.

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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews