HANOVER — After allowing two runs in the first inning, Hanover starting pitcher Owen Kennedy settled in and kept Whitman-Hanson at bay to help steer his team to a 4-2 baseball Patriot League victory.

It will be the only regular season matchup between the teams as it was an inter-division contest, and Hawks head coach Kevin McGonigle said his team was extra fired up to take on the Panthers.

“Any time we can get a victory off of those bigger schools in the Keenan division is always a big plus for us,” McGonigle said. “We come into Whitman-Hanson and feel like if we give our best, we can beat them but if we make mistakes, they are going to beat us. They will take full advantage of any mistake you make.”

The Panthers pounced early, drawing three walks in the opening inning and capitalized on some mistakes. Kennedy said he left the inning intent on making sure he didn’t lose his composure.

“I was trying to overcompensate and really hit my spots,” Kennedy said. “Then I kind of just settled down and tried to focus on my mechanics, which allowed me to find my groove.”

Panthers starter Ryan Baker cruised through the opening two innings, but a Sam Light walk and a James Solari single put some pressure on, and some small ball helped the Hawks manufacture two runs.

“Manufacturing runs works really well for the lower part of our lineup but the top half notices that too and knows that they have to do some of those things,” McGonigle said. “If we’re not hitting the ball in the gap, we’ve got to do some small ball.”

Hanover’s next run would come in the fifth inning when Thomas Perkins notched an infield single and advanced to third after an errant throw on a steal attempt. This gave third hitter Gabe Knudson an easy mission at the plate.

“I just wanted to hit the ball in the air.” Knudson said.

He did just that, sending a deep drive to center field that resulted in a huge sacrifice fly to give Hanover a lead.

That lead would be threatened almost immediately. Whitman-Hanson got a single from Evan Yakavonis and an error and walk loaded the bases with just a single out. Facing a difficult situation, Kennedy induced some light contact that helped the Hawks stymie the threat.

“Defense was great behind me,” Kennedy said. “We’ve just got to trust the guys behind us.”

An insurance run in the sixth would help ease some pressure, but it was more than enough for Connor Hutchison who earned the save to seal the win.

“We had some fantastic defense today and that was the big story,” McGonigle said. “Owen and Connor trusted the defense behind them and that led us to the win today.”