“This is going to help prepare us for the strong conference that we’re in. Yeah, we’ve taken some lumps right here, but hopefully in the long run it’s going to pay off for us. Our bats still have to pick up, though.”

Meridian’s Blake Barrow hit a shot to the fence, but Wallace’s Dion Duncan stuck his glove over the wall to rob the Eagles of a home run, however it was enough to bring home the runner from third and make it a 1-0 game in the top of the second inning.

Wallace threatened in the bottom of third but left two runners stranded in scoring position.

The Eagles struck again in the top of the fifth, as Samuel Peterson hit a line drive to center that brought Johnathan Youngblood home from second and made the score 2-0.

The Eagles final run came in the top of the seventh, as Peterson again brought Youngblood home with a single.

Wallace got a strong pitching performance from Sam Bass, who struck out six batters in five and a half innings.

The Patriots will take the field again Friday against Holmes in a doubleheader at Bloch Park with the first game starting at 5 p.m.