Sometimes a good start is all you need.

The Lyle/Pacelli baseball team came up with some big plays in the first inning and it held on to win its season opener 19-9 over Houston (0-5 overall, 0-3 SEC) in six innings in Riverland Monday.

L/P pitcher Kenneth Gray walked three straight hitters in the top of the first with one out, but he struck back-to-back hitters to get out of the frame.

“I think that was the game right there. That was a big momentum changer,” L/P head coach Dan Zielke said.

In the bottom of the first, Carter Guthmiller, a lefty, went with a pitch and slapped it to left field to make it 1-0 and it started a string where L/P put together four straight two-out run scoring hits to go up 4-0.

“We didn’t really need it, but it felt to good (get that hit),” said Guthmiller, who finished 2-for-4. “We trust Kenny a lot on the mound and he started out a little rough (in the first). But he battled back and did pretty good.”

L/P sent 15 hitters to the plate in the bottom of the fourth as they rallied to go up 13-1.

The Athletics (1-0 overall, 1-0 SEC) did most of their damage by going with pitches as the wind was blowing out to right field.

“Early in the year we stressed being patient and hitting to right field,” Zielke said. “They did that today and it made a difference, especially with the wind blowing out there. It was a double bonus.”

Houston got as close as 16-8 in the fourth, but Stephen Juenger and Skylar Meyer doubled in runs in the fifth and Jake Nelson came up with a two-out run scoring single to end the game in the sixth.

Stephen Juenger, a sophomore, and Kevin Juenger, a freshman, both pitched well in relief as they allowed a combined one hit and zero earned runs in two and two-thirds innings of work.

The Athletics have just two seniors and three juniors, so the opening win was a big boost for the whole squad.

“It’s huge for everyone’s mindset,” said catcher Kyle Meyer, who was 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two stolen bases. “We have a lot of young kids on this team and everybody was kind of intimidated. This just shows everybody what we have.”

Houston 0 1 4 3 1 0 — 9 4 6

L/P 4 9 3 0 2 1 — 19 19 3

L/P pitching: Kenneth Gray, 3 1/3 IP, 3 H, 6 BB, 7 R, 4 ER, 5 K, HBP; Stephen Juenger (W), 1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 K, HBP; Kevin Juenger, 1 IP, 1 BB, 0 R

L/P hitting: Kyle Meyer, 2-for-4, double, RBI, 3 R, 2 SB, HBP; Sean Shapiro, 3-for-5, double, triple, 2 RBIs, 2 R; Skylar Meyer, 2-for-5, double, 3 RBIs, R; Carter Guthmiller, 2-for-4, RBI, 2 R, BB; Jordan White, 1-for-3, double, 2 RBIs; Ryan McConnell, 1-for-3, 3 R, 2 HBP; Matt Kasel, 2-for-4, 2 RBIs, R; Jake Nelson, 2-for-5, 2 RBIs, 2 R; Gray, 3-for-3, triple, 3 RBIs, 3 R; Teddy Emery, 0-for-1; Stephen Juenger, 1-for-1, double, RBI; Collin Roberts, BB; Jonah Rohne, R, SB

Houston pitching: Dustin Uhlendorf (L), 5 2/3 IP, 19 H, 1 BB, 19 R, 3 HBP, 5 K

Houston hitting: Uhlendorf, 0-for-4; Pete Jergensen, 0-for-1, 2 R, 2 BBs, HBP; Tanner Benson, 1-for-3, 2 R, BB; Tyler Hoskins, 0-for-2, RBI, R, BB, HBP; Hunter Dockter, 0-for-3; Chase Krenzke, 0-for-3, 2 R; Evan Scheck, 0-for-3; Mason Drake, 3-for-3, double, R