The Pioneer Valley baseball team showed some patience in its game against cross-town rival Santa Maria on Thursday afternoon.

The Panthers drew 14 walks where four of them came around to score to help claim a 9-5 win over the Saints to begin Ocean League play.

“Sometimes, at any level, you try to do too much,” Pioneer Valley coach Cody Smith said. “If they are going to give us a free base, just trust in the guy behind you to get the job done.”

The Panthers (5-3, 1-0 Ocean) didn’t waste any time taking advantage of a free base when junior first baseman Kyle Milner laced a single past the third basemen to drive in Eddie Ponce, who reached on an error, and Ivan Enriquez, who walked.

Pioneer Valley added one more run when Izaiah Garcia scored on a wild pitch.

Saints pitcher Julius Medina settled down over the next two innings as Santa Maria drew closer after scoring on a fielder’s choice, but the momentum didn’t last.

The Panthers added two more unearned runs after an error in right field that scored Mark Andrade and Jonah Lopez.

Pioneer Valley has dominated the cross-town rivalry for the better part of four years with nine consecutive wins.

But Smith told his team to treat the game as if it was just a normal baseball game.

Sign up to receive headlines in your inbox!

Breaking News | Local Sports | Daily Headlines | Local Obituaries | Weather | Local Offers

“We try to not get caught up in it,” Smith said. “Rivalries are for those who want to make it into something. It’s just baseball.”

Santa Maria (1-3, 0-1 Ocean) added another run in the bottom of the third inning when Andrew Rice laced a single to right field but, once again, the Panthers rebounded. Consecutive walks with the bases loaded gave Pioneer Valley two more runs, and Medina was replaced by his twin brother Jordan.

Jordan Medina retired seven out of the next nine batters, but mistakes once again plagued the Saints as Lopez and Mike Rosas came around to score.

“We wanted to win, so our mindset was to be ready at all times,” said Milner, who was 1-for-1 with 3 RBIs and reached base in all four at-bats. “Coach wanted us to come in with energy and we did that today.”

Santa Maria gave the Panthers a small scare in the bottom of the seventh inning when the Julius and Jordan Medina came around to score, but Josh Calderon grounded out to finish the game.

“This was a great game, we took a lot of walks but we could do a better job of making more contact,” Milner said.

The Panthers will now have a week off before returning home to host Santa Ynez. Smith said the break will be nice and the team is playing well, but he doesn’t want them to peak too early in the season.

Let’s say we are peaking in April, there are still two months left in the season,” Smith said. “We aren’t behind or ahead, we just need to play consistent baseball.”

Santa Maria will host Santa Ynez on Tuesday, followed by a road game against Nipomo.