ARLINGTON – When the first- and fourth-place teams are playing just before the playoffs start Thursday, you might think it would be a competitive game.

It wasn’t.

Arlington trounced Stanwood 11-1 at home Tuesday in just five innings.

And it wasn’t the first time the Eagles had completely dominated Stanwood in a baseball game this season. Just the day before the score was even worse, 12-1.

The visitors never had a chance in this game, as Arlington jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first inning.

Stanwood lefty Ritchie Paxton struggled with his control from the start. Arlington took a 3-0 lead, and then Paxton walked three Eagles with the bases loaded to make it 6-0.

Tristan Sheward crushed a double over the leftfielder’s head to knock in two more runs to make it 8-0. Sheward was 2-3 on the day.

The home team loaded the bases again in the second inning after three singles, but only managed to bring home one run on a sacrifice fly.

On the mound, Eagle pitchers AJ Croom and Avery Kindred combined on a two-hitter. Stanwood’s only run came in the fourth when reliever Kindred threw a wild pitch.

The only other extra-base hit in the game came off the bat of Trevor Kazen, who smashed a line-drive double into the gap in left-center in the third. He went 2-3 in the game.

With the win, Arlington improved to 17-3 overall, and 15-3 in the Wesco North.