Lucas McKenna led the Warriors (1-1) to a 3-1 win over Ellicottville (0-1), hurling a seven-strikeout complete-game no-hitter in the process.

For a program that has come through several lean years, the win is hopefully a sign that the tide has finally turned this season.

“My feet aren’t touching the ground. I’m so proud of my kids,” Salamanca head coach Mike Smith said. “He got ahead. He pounded the strike zone. We knew that you can’t pitch behind, your pitch count runs up then. We left him out there because he had a no-hitter going. Our plan was to throw under 65 and use him again Wednesday. So he will be done until Friday or Saturday now, however that turns out. But this year we have six pitchers, we’ve never had that luxury.”

McKenna would have to battle down to the final out of the night, as the Eagles placed runners in scoring position in the top half of the seventh as Lucas Marsh was walked before heading to third on a passed ball.

Ellicottville's Clayton Rowland dishes to first.

The senior hurler would get out of that jam with some more hard throws, and the celebration for the Warriors was on.

“It was a beautiful day. The kids just came off of a sectional (football) title on Friday and are playing baseball on Monday. What more can you ask for?” Ellicottville head coach Chris Mendell said. “We’ve got to hit better and I think we will over time. Credit to their pitcher.”

Marsh would put in a strong effort of his own on the hill for the Eagles, striking out eight and walking three in five innings of work before Ryan Dekay entered for the final inning.

Salamanca grabbed an early lead when Andy Herrick was sent to first on an error in the first inning of play before taking second on a passed ball.

Facing a full count after a long at-bat, Hayden Hoag got the hosts on the board with an RBI single over first base, for the first of his two hits on the day.

The Warriors would threaten to add to that lead as McKenna singled and Jaxson Ross was walked, but Marsh would retire the last out on a pop fly to Zaron Tucker.

“This is the focus now is this tournament. Wednesday we’ll play the winner of this game, Portville and Cattaraugus-Little Valley. We’re very excited,” Smith said. “This team has been through a lot of grief over the years. We were ‘Bad News Bears’ level. Three years ago we were 0-10. We were outscored 135-5 in 10 games. We got 10 hits as a team for the year. Two years ago we were 3-10, we won our first game in four years. This year we are hoping to have a really good season. We’ve got some good leadership and we’ve only got two seniors, so we are still incredibly young. I start a freshman and an eighth-grader out there.”

Two errors and a stolen base would give the Eagles their only run of the day, with Clayton Rowland taking advantage of the miscues in the second inning.

The Warriors would take the lead for good in the fifth, thanks to a single by Hayden Hoag and a chopper to left field from Harley Hoag. Marsh was looking at the bases loaded after walking McKenna, which paved the way for a two-RBI single from Ross to make it 3-1.

Adding to the improvement in pitching this season, Smith has also been very pleased with his fielding.

“As you can see our defense catches the ball really well,” he said. “We have an outstanding outfield.”