Pine Creek traveled to Arizona during spring break where the Eagles erupted for 42 runs in four games.

During the Eagles’ tilt at Cheyenne Mountain on Tuesday, though, it appeared the Eagles left their bats in the warm Phoenix weather.

Until Ethan Olson helped the Eagles take flight against the Red-Tailed Hawks.

Olson hit a solo home run 330 feet over the left-field fence to break a 1-1 tie in the top of the fourth, which led to a four-run inning and a 7-1 victory for the Eagles.

“Being the first hitter up I’m always trying to give the guys something to work with,” Olson said. “I know that’ll snowball into us scoring a lot of runs and that’s what happened.”

Pine Creek spent four days in Phoenix where the Eagles played in the Coach Bob National Invitational and faced four Oregon teams March 25-28.

The Eagles finished the tournament 3-1 and held their opponents to 23 runs while Pine Creek averaged 10.5 runs per game on 41 total hits.

“We saw some good pitching in Arizona but still managed to play well,” Olson said. “We took what we learned there and came out ready to play against Cheyenne.”

But the Eagles, who entered the game with 73 runs in seven contests, struggled to find offense through three innings and had just two hits after the top of the third.

During Olson’s second at-bat of the matchup, he faced a full count with an out on the board.

“I was in my two-strike approach and saw the ball coming down the middle,” Olson said. “I pulled it to left to hit a home run.”

Olson’s first career homer gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Lukas Genin, Jake Holm and Mike Parker also scored later in the inning to build a 5-1 lead.

The Eagles also scored one run apiece in the fifth and sixth innings to balloon their lead to 7-1 against the Red-Tailed Hawks.

As Cheyenne Mountain battled to mount a comeback, the Red-Tailed Hawks struggled to put runners in scoring position.

Pine Creek kept Cheyenne Mountain off the board largely due to Ryan Prater’s brilliance on the mound.

The sophomore lefty faced 25 batters in 6 1/3 innings against the Red-Tailed Hawks and matched his career best with 11 strikeouts, walked one and allowed no earned runs.

The Red-Tailed Hawks’ lone score came in the bottom of the second when they took a 1-0 lead following a sacrifice fly.

Cheyenne Mountain’s Charlie Scofield, who advanced to first on Prater’s lone walk of the game, got home on the play to give the Red-Tailed Hawks their only lead of the afternoon.

Pine Creek coach Jeff Parker said despite Prater’s youth, he pitches like a senior and approaches the game like an upperclassman.

Prater demonstrated that with his response to the Cheyenne Mountain’s run.

“The only thing that run did was let me know that was the only one they were getting,” Prater said. “It felt good to get this win and get back into the swing of things after our trip to Arizona and this was a good way to get back into our routine.”

Parker isn’t surprised by the sophomore’s 11-strikeout performance and said Prater “always battles” when he’s on the mound.

“We know when we hand him the ball, he’s either going to continue a winning streak or stop a losing streak,” Parker said. “He comes out and attacks the zone and locates well. … He’s carved up some pretty good lineups and we expect to see more of that as we roll.”