LANCASTER — Lancaster senior outfielder Riley Poston is a grinder. He is a solid hitter, and while he was making contact and hitting the ball hard, he didn’t have much to show for it because most of the time, it was right at someone.

That all changed Friday night in arguably the biggest game of the season when the Golden Gales hosted rival Newark with sole possession of first place in the Ohio Capital Conference-Buckeye Division on the line.

The Wildcats had something going in the top of the first inning when with two outs, Ty Pangborn singled and went to second on a wild pitch. The next batter, Tyler Flint hit a sharp single to left field, and Newark coach Michael Wheeler sent Pangborn.

Poston charged the ball quickly, threw a perfect relay to third basemen Dom Bornino, who turned and threw a strike to catcher Ajay Locke, who was able to tag Pangborn out on a bang-bang play.

That not only seemed to set the tone for the game, but it was just lift that Poston needed. He came up in the bottom of the first inning and hit a bases-loaded double to give the Gales an early 3-0 lead.

Poston’s play seemed to rub off on the rest of the teammates because Lancaster played its most complete game of the season and the Gales went on to post an impressive 11-1, six-inning win over the Wildcats in front of a huge crowd at Beavers Field.

The Gales, who defeated the Wildcats 7-0 on Wednesday to force a tie for first place in the league with Newark, now stand along with an 8-2 mark and 13-3 overall. The Wildcats slipped to 10-5 and 7-3.

Poston finished his outstanding night by going 4-for-4 with four RBI, two runs and two stolen bases.

“Coach (Corey) Conn has preached to us about making winning plays and that was my mindset,” Poston said. “I just wanted to swing the bat and be aggressive. The first pitch I saw was a fastball and I was able to drive it in the gap.

“It has been a little frustrating for me, but I felt like I was hitting the ball hard but just right at people, so it was nice to finally see some of those start to fall. I just kept grinding and working and I knew it would come eventually.”

Newark coach Michael Wheeler said Poston’s play in the first inning was big, but the Wildcats didn’t help themselves any.

“(Lancaster) made a lot of plays, but with two outs in that situation, we are going to take that chance every time, especially with two outs,” Wheeler said. “It was a bang-bang play and that kind of got them going a little bit, but we shot ourselves in the foot, defensively, in the first two or three innings. When you give a team like that a few easy runs, you are in for a long day. “

Lancaster finished with 14 hits compared to just five for the Wildcats.

Conn said he has been waiting for the Gales to come alive and play well in all facets of the game, and it was a welcome sight. The Gales executed bunts, they hit with runners in scoring position, they ran the bases well and, defensively, they were stellar, especially senior shortstop Tony Falvo, who made a diving stop in the hole, got up and threw the runner out at first base, and he was the lead on turning two double plays.

“This was by far the best we have played in all areas of the game, defensively, offensively, and just being able to execute, but also being able to drive the ball and hit gaps,” conn said. “Our base running was elite, as well. Just all phases of the game, these guys understood it was a big game, playing under the lights and they showed up. There was a lot on the line, and they delivered.”

Lancaster scored its three runs in the first inning after Isaac Cooperrider, Falvo and Dom Bornino all singled to load the bases for Poston.

The Wildcats answered by plating a run in the top of the second inning on an RBI single from Chris Pound, but the Gales kept the pressure on. They scored two runs in their half of the second inning on RBI singles from Jacob Mowder and Falvo to take a 5-1 lead.

Lancaster added a run in the third on a sacrifice fly from Locke and pushed three more runs across in the fifth inning on a bases-clearing triple from Mowder to take a commanding 9-1 lead.

“We dropped a couple of games that we didn’t think we should have lost because of not executing,” Poston said. “Tonight, we were able to put everything together and it seems like we are starting to get our rhythm back.”

Carter Ross started for the Gales and pitched and last three-plus innings before giving way to sophomore Jackson Burke, who finished it out the rest of the way.

The Wildcats threw three different pitchers with Jayce Dansby getting the start. Tyler Flint and Thomas Olon pitched in relief.

While it was a frustrating loss for the Wildcats, they still have everything in front of them, as far as having a chance at winning a league title.

“We haven’t played very good baseball this week, but we have couple of weeks left and we will see everyone in the league again, so we still have everything out there still in front of us,” Wheeler said. “It has been a long time around here since we’ve had this opportunity this late in the season. We know what we need to do. We just have to clean some things up and come back and play better.”

Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on Twitter @twil2323.