Ottawa’s Adam Swanson swears he didn’t have vengeance in mind when he stepped into the batter’s box to lead off the bottom of the first inning, despite the fact that his Rochelle counterpart, Hubs starting pitcher Brody Bruns, went yard against Swanson for a solo home run in the top of the first.

The Pirates senior enjoyed the result nevertheless.

Swanson went yard himself, blasting a leadoff solo homer to center to tie the game 1-1, then retook the mound and shut out the Hubs for the final four innings as the Pirates kept their Interstate 8 Conference baseball title hopes alive with an 11-1, five-inning victory Wednesday at King Field.

“I always try, game to game, pitch to pitch, don’t let myself get up here when something goes good, don’t let myself get down here when something goes wrong,” Swanson said, gesturing with his hands. “Really, I was just thinking same approach, and hitting leadoff I was thinking, ‘Get it started. Hit a ball hard somewhere,’ and it worked out.

“I knew I put a good swing on it. I saw it getting small pretty fast. I was excited.”

It was indeed an exciting – and unusual – beginning, one Ottawa coach Levi Ericson wasn’t at all surprised to find Swanson right in the middle of.

“To give up an early home run to their kid and then settle in and answer right back with a home run off him in the bottom of the first? You don’t see that very often,” Ericson said. “[Adam] lives for big moments. He thrives in situations like that. ...

“He’s just been electric.”

Bruns’ solo homer down the right-field line in the visitors’ first got the Hubs (9-14 overall, 3-11 Interstate 8) off to a good start, and other than Swanson’s reply, Bruns was strong early. The second time through the order, though, the red-hot Pirates – winners of four straight and nine of their last 11 – started to solve the southpaw.

Ottawa (14-11-1 overall, 8-5 Interstate 8) scored twice in the third, three more times in the fourth and five times in the fifth to enact the 10-run mercy rule on a walk-off RBI single from designated hitter Jake Torres.

Rochelle fielding errors opened the door for most of the Pirates’ runs on the day, making a tough job tougher for Bruns (3⅓ IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 3 K) and a trio of relievers who didn’t fare any better.

Swanson, on the other hand, had little difficulty after Bruns’ opening-frame home run. Swanson finished going all five innings, striking out seven while allowing one earned run on three hits and no walks.

“Yeah, he did a good job,” Rochelle coach Jarrod Reynolds said. “We just weren’t hitting many balls hard, and it’s hard to win when you only get a couple hits. ...

“Ottawa’s a really good hitting team, and you can’t give them extra outs. That’s what we did, too many unearned runs, and we always say, in this conference there’s not much margin for error.”

Bruns finished with two of Rochelle’s three hits and the Hubs’ lone RBI.

As for Ottawa – which can earn a share of the Interstate 8 Conference championship with Kaneland if the Pirates can finish a sweep of the Hubs in Rochelle on Thursday and then beat Kaneland back in Ottawa on Monday in the resumption of a suspended game – there were multiple offensive standouts.

Swanson led the way with a double, a homer and three RBIs. Colt Bryson (three runs scored, one RBI), Torres (two RBIs) and Brendyn Fuchs also delivered two hits apiece, with Rizon Contreras singling home a run and Rory Moore doubling and scoring twice.

“We can’t worry about what happens [with the conference race] or the end of the season,” Ericson said. “We just have to trust that we do the little things every play with a purpose and don’t take any plays or pitches off, and we’re going to put ourselves in a situation for it.

“It’s panned out so far. Hopefully we can take care of business tomorrow. Then Monday will be a fun day.”