PANAMA CITY BEACH—The Ryan Ihle era for the Wallace Govs baseball team has gotten off to a very good start. Thanks to Kade Snell's outstanding pitching and timely hitting from the Govs offense, Wallace was able to shut out the State College of Florida Manatees 9-0 in their season opening game Friday afternoon. The Govs are one of 16 teams playing in the Visit Panama City Beach College Baseball Tournament.

                When asked how he felt about getting his first ever win as a head coach, Ihle said, "It's not about me. I'm so proud of the guys. They are the ones that did the work and I'm happy for them."

                But when pressed further, Ihle did say "it's always great to get a W and I am happy to get that first win."

                Before Snell even took the mound, he had two runs to play with. In the top of the first inning, with one out, Carlos Vasquez singled to left field, followed by a walk to Warrick Wilmot. Brody Capps plated the first run of the game with his double to the left centerfield gap. Wilmot later came home on an RBI ground-out by Ellis Yohn. That put the Govs up 2-0.

                It became 4-0 the very next inning when the Govs tacked on two more. A single from Logan Johnson and a walk to Vasquez preceded a two-RBI single by Wilmot.

                Add two more in the sixth inning. Both of those runs came on the first of two home runs by Yohn.

                In the meantime, Snell was just rolling along. He threw 84 pitches and didn't allow a single run in 6 1/3 innings.

                "I think it was my comfort level," Snell said when asked how he was able to perform so well in the first  game of the season. "I didn't feel like I needed to do everything myself. I knew I had eight other guys behind me so I just let them do their job."

                Snell struck out five and walked two during his time on the mound. When asked how he was able to accomplish that he said, "I had four pitches working for me today—slider, curveball, two-seam fastball and a four-seam fastball.. My pitches were really moving well today.

                To cap of the Govs performance, Yohn hit a three-run homer in the sixth innings. His second home run gave him a total of six RBIs for game.

                "In my first at-bat, I didn't feel comfortable at all," Yohn said "But after that, I just felt good and felt like I could hit anything, So I just started looking for a pitch to drive.

                With the win, the Govs remain in the winner's bracket. They will take on Wabash College Saturday morning at 11.