The Mehlville Senior High School baseball team took advantage of some great weather last Friday and defeated Northwest 10-9.

“It was one of those days that was a great day to hit,” Mehlville head coach Bob Kern told the Call. “It was sunny, warm and breezy, and both teams hit the ball well.”

Both teams combined for 28 hits with Northwest actually out hitting Mehlville 16-12.

Mehlville (6-9, 2-2 Suburban West) starting pitcher Jason Nikolaisen gave up six runs on 14 hits in five innings. The senior starting pitcher struck out four batters and walked just one in his second win of the season.

“It was a strange day for a starting pitcher,” Kern said. “But to his credit, he kept the ball down and it was a tough day for the defense with the breeze.”

Mehlville’s Harry Dunsford relieved Nikolaisen in the sixth inning and gave up three runs on two hits in two innings. The junior reliever also walked one batter and struck out one in his sixth appearance on the mound this season.

“Harry did a good job and has been doing a good job for us when coming out of the bullpen,” Kern said. “He generates a lot of ground balls and has been extremely reliable for us.”

Mehlville senior shortstop Tom Case had a hot day at the plate with a three-hit performance that included two doubles and three runs batted in. Case also stole one base and raised his batting average to .367.

“Tom’s coming around offensively,” Kern said. “He’s the anchor of our defense and has been hitting the ball hard the past two weeks.”

Mehlville junior catcher John Brinkmann also had a solid afternoon at the plate, driving in four runs on two hits. Brinkmann stole two bases and scored one run and now carries a solid .354 batting average.

“John’s been a consistent performer for us for the majority of the year,” Kern said. “He’s been able to shape up the gap in our offense.”

The Panthers are back on the diamond at 4:15 p.m. today — April 26 — when they play host to Lafayette in Suburban West Conference action. Lafayette (4-5, 2-2 Suburban West) is coming off a 10-4 loss on Friday to St. Louis University High.

“I think that our strength will continue to be on the mound,” Kern said. “We’re going to need to continue to have productive at-bats.”