AUSTIN — Duane Higgs is like any other high school baseball coach when it comes to seeing his team post a tournament win.

Higgs said his Brownstown Central baseball team had fun in the opening game of the Austin Class 2A Sectional Wednesday afternoon by rolling past Brown County 11-0 in five innings.

“It was good to see us have fun,” Higgs said. “When you’re expected to win, sometimes you’re a little tight, but it was nice to come over here and play really good baseball right out of the gate and just take care of business. We really focused today. I really liked our approach.”

The Braves got their offense rolling early as Carson Darlage, hitting in the No. 2 hole, tripled to right-center field in the bottom of the first inning and easily scored on Trent Lowery’s sacrifice fly to center field.

The Braves sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning and came up with three hits, one walk, two hit batsmen, plus Brown County committed one error, and Brownstown scored five runs.

Jaxson Johnson started the rally by walking and later scored on a wild pitch. Ethan Fultz was hit by a pitch and Lane Pendleton singled. Chick Tiemeyer hit a sacrifice fly to score Fultz, Ethan Garland was safe on an error, Darlage was hit by a pitch, Lowery drove in two runs with a single and Grayson Cassidy plated a run with a single.

Nine more Braves batted in the third with three getting hits, there was another hit batsman and four runners scored.

Johnson led off with a single and later scored on a wild pitch. Fultz was hit by a pitch for a second time, Tiemeyer was safe on a fielder’s choice, Garland and Darlage drove in runs with singles and Cassidy hit a sacrifice fly.

Johnson singled in the fourth and scored on a sacrifice fly, and Higgs said he liked the four sacrifice flies that his team had. The Brown County pitchers did not have any strikeouts.

“I don’t know if we really had a bad at-bat,” Higgs said. “All of our at-bats (16 base runners in four innings) were really good. They did what the pitchers gave them. We executed situations. We were putting the ball in play and making things happen.”

Darlage and Johnson both had two hits and Garland, Lowery, Cassidy and Pendleton each had one hit. Lowery had three RBI, Tiemeyer and Cassidy both had two RBI, and Garland and Darlage both had one RBI. Johnson scored three runs, and Garland, and Fultz both scored two, and Lowery, Cassidy, Pendleton and Tiemeyer scored the other runs.

Johnson said when he got up to bad, “I was just looking for a fastball because I knew they didn’t have much off-speed so I was just looking for something to hit.”

Johnson, who scored on two runs on wild pitches said, “I was ready for a wild pitch when I was on third base. The team atmosphere is really good. We’re a really tight group. That helps a lot.”

Garland pitched the first three innings had seven strikeouts, Dalton Reedy pitched one inning and had two strikeouts and Pendleton pitched one inning and had two strikeouts.

The only hit the Eagles got came in the fourth inning when Jade Wollems hit a ball ground ball that rolled past the mound that Johnson couldn’t get a glove on from his shortstop position.

“We wanted to get these guys some experience, here on a different field on a different mound. I thought it was good that we got a lead and was able to come in and throw three different pitchers. It was nice to get the guys out on low pitch counts today,” Higgs said. “It was a very good team effort, up and down the line up one through nine, and the dugout was wonderful.”

The Braves (21-8) will play the winner of Wednesday’s second game between South Ripley and Milan at 10 a.m. Monday in the sectional semifinal.