In a game that lasted nearly three hours Monday, Lexington set the tone earlywith a five-run first inning. Lexington manager Dennis Dillingham said his team usually jumps out in front of opponents.

“We typically are a very good offensive team, and we hit the ball really well,” Dillingham said. “We came out and started swinging the bats and went up big early. The first three innings went fast even though we were hitting a lot. When we changed pitchers, they started getting hits and made a lot of lineup changes.”

Lexington?s starting pitcher, Kevin Herren, got the win with four strikeouts while only giving up one run in three innings of work.

“I knew that they were a good hitting team,” Herren said.

Both teams met in the tournament last year, with Lexington winning, 2-0.

“They had one guy go far in the home run derby, so I knew I just had to keep the ball down,” Herren said.

While Herren was working to keep the ball down, Kyle Polley worked on sending the ball out of the park.

Polley jump-started Lexington?s big first inning with a three-run homer.

“I was looking at the batters before me,” Polley said. “The pitcher [Jorge Chavarria] was throwing the first pitch down the middle of the plate, so I sat back and waited on it.”

Polley and the Bronx?s Michael German were named the most valuable players of the game.

Dillingham is trying to only think one game at a time, but he has sized up his opponents in the National Division.

“We had seen the Bronx as one of the better teams, and we have Missouri next, but we are looking out for Alabama,” Dillingham said. “They really hit the ball well.”

On a roll

» Lexington, in its fourth consecutive year of competition in the Cal Ripken World Series, started the tournament off for the second straight year by defeating the host team, Hickory Fountain Green.

» Lexington won, 11-0, on Sunday with a combined no-hitter.