FAUCETT, Mo. — As Max Montag’s single fell in down the right-field line, his Bishop LeBlond teammates already were razzing him.

“Hey, your first hit of the year,” Chris Schultz shouted.

Although Schultz was a little off on the number, it showed how good LeBlond’s offense was Thursday against Mid-Buchanan. Montag’s two-run single out of the No. 9 hole highlighted the Golden Eagles’ seven-run top of the first inning during a 15-1, five-inning victory.

LeBlond collected 14 hits — including eight for extra bases — and scored in each inning at Mid-Buchanan High School. Seven players had at least one RBI, and five of those knocked in multiple runs.

Eagles coach Greg Kastner gave his hitters a talking before the game, based on an interview he heard on the radio from Kansas City Royals manager Trey Hillman during a morning car ride. A message apparently well received.

“During a game, you’re only going to hit three, four times a game if you’re lucky,” Kastner said. “You better take advantage of every bat, and I think they took advantage of every at-bat today. They had a pretty good attitude at the plate.

“I don’t think it was anything I did. I have to credit listening to 810 (AM) this morning and picking up a message from Trey Hillman.”

In a final regular-season tuneup, neither team used a top starting pitcher in a matchup of two of the top contenders in the Class 2 District 16 tournament, which starts Saturday.

LeBlond tagged Jake Rumpf (1-2) for all 15 runs — 14 earned — in his four-plus innings of work. By contrast, LeBlond’s Vince Vos pitched four innings and allowed only one unearned run. Vos (2-0) struck out three and walked only one.

LeBlond (12-9) provided the left-handed freshman with all the support he needed in the first. John Lutz and Jeremy Banks had RBI doubles before Montag’s soft liner to the opposite field scored Banks and Bryson Merrick with two outs.

Philip Kafka, who scored after being hit by a pitch to open the game, followed with an RBI double — one of two two-baggers for the senior.

“It’s always great to get off to a great start, start off with a big bang,” said LeBlond third baseman Ethan Lueckenhoff, who finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and four runs scored.

“It really builds up our confidence. Lately, we’ve been struggling to put people away, but if we keep hitting the ball, I think we’ll do great next week in districts.”

Mid-Buchanan (11-8) nearly got right back into it in the bottom of the inning.

The Dragons opened with runners on first and second after back-to-back LeBlond errors. But Vos induced swinging strikeouts to the next two hitters, and Keenan Delaney’s two-out RBI single was all the Dragons could muster.

Staked to the early lead, LeBlond added a run in the second on Andrew Nellestein’s RBI double and two more in the third on Lueckenhoff’s two-run homer, his second of the year. After plating one in the fourth to expand their lead to 11-1, the Eagles pushed across four in the fifth to put it away.

The damage could have been worse.

LeBlond stranded seven, and Rumpf ended two innings by picking off a runner

at first.

Mid-Buchanan — the No. 3 seed in districts — lost for the third time this week, but after playing eight games in 11 days, the Dragons’ pitching staff was nearly on empty.

Coach Dave Elms knows his team could see LeBlond, the district’s top seed, next week when both schools could have their No. 1 starter.

“It’s gone; it’s flushed,” Elms said of the loss. “If we see them again, it will be Wednesday night in the championship game, and absolutely, the intensity and what’s at stake will be much different.”

Assistant sports editor Ross Martin can be reached at rossmartin@npgco.com