Biblical Samson didn’t fare too well with short hair.

Ballplayer Bennet Bauman has had no such problems since having his waist-length, flowing locks chopped before the state finals last spring. He opted to go the less-is-more route while many of his McHenry baseball teammates bleached their hair blond.

It was not an emotional decision for him.

“I just went and got it cut,” Baumann said. “I didn’t think about it.”

The 6-foot-5 Baumann has been long-haired-Samson-strong in his first year as a starter after being one of the state runner-up’s best bats off the bench last season. He went 4 for 4 with a double and three RBI singles Monday to help lead McHenry to an 8-3 win over visiting Jacobs in a Fox Valley Conference showdown.

Garet Lobbins was 3 for 4 and, like Baumann, had a double as FVC leader McHenry (13-2-1, 6-0) limited Jacobs (11-3, 4-2) to only two hits. The cleanup-hitting Baumann led a 10-hit attack.

“I was just hunting fastballs, as we all tend to do, and they gave it to me four times,” said Baumann, who has been hitting in the middle third of the Warriors’ loaded lineup all season. “I made them pay for it.”

McHenry won despite ace Kaden Wasniewski exiting the mound after three innings because of a blister on his pitching hand, said coach Brian Rockweiler, adding that the arm of the LSU commit is fine.

Wasnieski endured a long third inning, as the Golden Eagles sent eight batters to the plate and scored three runs thanks to RBIs from a Jace Koth single, an Andrew Deegan walk and a Ryan Tucker ground out.

Wasniewski threw 54 pitches, striking out three, walking three, hitting a batter and allowing two singles. He and Nathan Neidhardt, who started the game in left field, switched positions.

Neidhardt threw four perfect innings, striking out four.

“Just attack,” Neidhardt said of his game plan on the mound. ”Throw fastballs, throw hard and throw strikes."

Wasniewski will typically go the distance on the mound. Entering the game earlier than usual proved not to be a detriment to Neidhardt, who has pitched mainly in short relief.

“It’s not really tough,” Neidhardt said. “I just look forward to going in to pitch, back up my team and do what I can to help out the group.”

Neidhardt earned the win, as Landon Clements hit a solo homer to center field, his second of the season, with one out in the fourth to snap a 3-all tie.

“Nathan did a good job coming in in relief, and I thought we hit the ball really well today,” Rockweiler said.

Jacobs’ Brock Vincent flied out deep to right in the fifth, but otherwise the Eagles hit few balls hard against the lefty Neidhardt.

“Give credit to McHenry,” said Jacobs coach Jamie Murray, whose team hosts McHenry on Wednesday. “They were better than us. They got down, they battled back, took the lead, held on to it and added on – all things that we’re capable of doing. Unfortunately, it was not our best from the third inning on."

Baumann’s two-out single in the first scored Clements (2 for 4, two runs, stolen base) and opened the scoring. Baumann singled home Carver Cohn (1 for 4) in a two-run third, doubled and scored in the fifth, and pulled a single into left field in the seventh to score Wasniewski (0 for 2, two hit by pitches).

“He’s been pretty consistent all year,” Rockweiler said of Baumann.

Jacobs took a 3-1 lead in the third and had an opportunity to hand McHenry its first FVC loss, especially with Wasniewski out of the game. Eagles starter Cooper Gulgren pitched four-plus innings, leaving the game with his team trailing 4-3 and after Baumann led off the fifth with his double to deep center.

“That was a challenge, get after Kaden,” Murray said. “He’s an elite, special type of pitcher. I thought our guys did a good job of working the counts, building up his pitch count and getting in situations where we could put some good swings on it. It would have been nice to get a couple of more, but it didn’t work out that way.”

McHenry’s three-run fifth included RBIs from Neidhardt (sacrifice fly) and Gavin Polerecky (fielder’s choice). Pinch-hitter Drake Chisamore drew a walk to keep the rally going. Lobbins’ first-inning double hit the top of the fence in left field.

“We always are going to have competitors on the field, on the mound and playing defense,” Baumann said. “We know that not everyone has to have the best day, but we’ll pick each other up.”