Matthew Legere is a Master’s Student at ASU Cronkite School of Journalism assigned to cover Hamilton High School for AZPreps365.com

TEMPE — Looking to once again prove why it is a perennial 6A title contender in the state of Arizona, Hamilton opened its season with a dominant 13-1 victory at Corona del Sol on Tuesday afternoon. 

The Huskies jumped out to an early three-run lead in the first inning, thanks to an error and two walks by the Aztec pitching staff. It was a second inning at-bat by one of the Huskies' youngest stars, however, that ultimately launched the offensive juggernaut. 

With one out in the top half of the second, Liam Wilson jumped on the first fastball he saw and sent the pitch way over the left-centerfield fence. It was the sophomore catcher's first varsity home run, extending the Huskies lead to 4-0. 

“First pitch, (Harrison) kind of fooled me on the changeup, so on the second pitch I was really just trying to stay back and attack as best I could,” Wilson said. “I didn't know it was out when I first hit it, but I knew I hit it hard on the barrel and that's all that matters.” 

The young buck's home run seemed to light a fire under his upperclassmen teammates, a defining moment for a Huskies offense that would go on to score nine runs over the course of the next four and two-thirds innings. 

Junior infielders Roch Cholowsky and Josh Tiedemann added to the slugfest. Cholowsky, the shortstop, went 3-for-5 with three singles, two RBIs and two runs scored. Tiedemann, who mans first base, went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a two-run home run of his own in the fifth. 

On the bump, senior right-hander Logan Saloman needed just 54 pitches to complete five innings of work. The Arizona State commit struck out five and allowed just one earned run on three hits and no walks. 

The Aztecs scored their lone run in the bottom of the second inning. Junior catcher Landon Springmeyer led off with an opposite-field home run over the right field wall, cutting the deficit to 4-1. 

The Aztecs threatened Saloman in the third inning as, with one out, three straight batters reached base successfully, two by way of error. Down by three with the bases loaded and one out, Corona del Sol found itself one base knock from pulling within a run of the defending state runners-up. Instead, Solamon quickly shut down any hopes of an Aztec comeback, getting a strikeout followed by a fly out  to left field to end the inning. 

Hamilton's ace took complete control of the game in the next two innings. Saloman did not allow another baserunner while striking out four of the final six batters he faced. 

"Fastball off the bat was feeling really good," Saloman said. "My changeup felt really good against most of their batters, as well. Slider struggled a few times. I bounced a few but then I came right back and got a big strikeout with it, which felt really good. Everything felt really good today, honestly."

Saloman's classmate Jeremy Jones came out of the bullpen in the sixth to close out the game. The righthander closed out Hamilton's first win of the season with a 22-pitch, scoreless sixth inning. Jones is eligible to return to the mound with zero days rest, whereas Saloman must now wait for a minimum of two days before making his next appearance on the hill.

"This team is capable of a lot," Wilson said. "We have a lot of depth, we work hard, and when we play as a team we're hard to beat. We're looking forward to the rest of the season."

Hamilton (1-0) hosts its home opener against Red Mountain (1-0) on Wednesday, March 2 at 3:45 p.m. Corona del Sol (0-1) travels to Mountain View (0-1) for a 3:45 p.m. first pitch on Wednesday, March 2.