CENTERVILLE -- Win and advance. That is the name of the game come tournament time and Viewmont head baseball coach Roger Farnsworth understands this concept quite well. Following the grind-it-out 4-2 win over a pesky Alta Hawks at Viewmont Tuesday afternoon, Farnsworth was happy to take the win.

"It's better to be 1-0 than 0-1 this time of the season," Farns-worth said. "We didn't play our best and we still won."

While Farnsworth noted some of his concerns, he certainly had to be thrilled with the pitching of Greg Whipple. The senior threw six innings of three-hit baseball with eight strikeouts.

"I was definitely nervous before the game, I admit it," Whipple said. "I couldn't hit anything during batting practice, but then before the game began I just thought to myself, 'I've done this hundreds of times before so relax.'"

And relax he did.

"This is fun," Whipple said. "Playing in this situation is great."

Whipple also said knowing he had teammate closer, Greg Madsen to hand off to with the two-run lead made him feel very good about his chances.

"I know when I give the ball to Madsen that he's going to get the job done," Whipple said. "He's the best pitcher I know. Maybe not the hardest thrower, but his stuff is always great."

Madsen came in and made quick work of any dreams Alta might have had of mounting a comeback.

Catcher Alex Exxon led the offensive attack for Viewmont, with two of three hitting and two runs-batted-in. He also controlled the plate and gave his pitchers a good spot.

"Alex had a great game," Farnsworth said.

Alta's pitcher Tyler Ralph kept Viewmont off-balance throwing a five-hitter in the contest.

"You know, the only runs Alta scored today came off of our errors," Farnsworth said. "But the guys stayed focused. They did what was needed to get this win and now it's time to move on."

Viewmont hosted a second round game with Riverton after the Clipper went to press on Wednesday.

schultes@davisclipper.com