NATCHEZ — The Trinity Episcopal baseball team started its playoff run with a bang Tuesday night. The Saints destroyed Claiborne Academy, from Haynesville, La., 24-5 in five innings to take a 1-0 series lead.

The Saints pounded out 23 hits and got the opportunity to play every player on the roster against an unfamiliar opponent, head coach Mitch Ashmore said.

“We had a long trip, and we didn’t know anything about (Claiborne Academy), but we did well,” Ashmore said.

Obviously, offense was the story for Trinity.

The Saints scored nine runs in the first three innings and then exploded for 11 more in the fourth to take a 20-1 lead.

Trinity hit three home runs on the night. Jake Winston had a grand slam, Trevor Faust had a three-run homer and Sky Logan added a two-run shot.

Givonni Dent went 5-for-5 on the night with two doubles and Logan was 4-for-4. Winston and Andrew Moroney added three hits of their own.

“Collectively we all hit (the ball) pretty hard,” Ashmore said. “We did a better job at that (this game). Some guys we put in (the game) later on did good (too).”

Winston got the win for Trinity.

“Jake Winston did well (today). He hadn’t worked in a while,” Ashmore said.

Trinity started moving some players around in the last inning and giving some bench players an opportunity to get on the field, Ashmore said.

That inexperience defensively led to the Saints giving up four runs in the final inning. The Saints finished the game with four errors but Ashmore was pleased with the defense, he said.

“There wasn’t a lot of plays we had to make,” Ashmore said.

During the first few innings the Saints had a few opportunities and made some routine plays, Ashmore said.

Trinity will host Claiborne Academy at 6 p.m. Thursday in game two of the series at Huntington Field. If necessary, game three will follow.

“Hopefully 6 p.m. Thursday we can go ahead and wrap two (wins) up on the first try,” Ashmore said.