QUINCY — Playing in the Western Big 6 Conference is never easy, with the Quincy Blue Devils starting its home and away series against Sterling on Monday.

Quincy was hoping to carry the momentum it’s built up recently after winning three of their past four games as the Blue Devils hosted senior night at QHS baseball field.

It was not to be for the Blue Devils, with the Warriors coming away with a 3-2 win.

Early on it looked like the Warriors and Blue Devils were going to have a slugfest on their hands.

Sterling was able to put a threat together in the first inning. With two on and one out, Cale Nettleton picked up a single, scoring two to give Sterling an early edge.

The Blue Devils would respond in the bottom half of the inning. The Blue Devils were able to take advantage of an error in the first inning. Quincy senior Nathan Konrad picked up an RBI single in his only hit on the night to get the Blue Devils within one run.

It was only fitting that the only senior on the Blue Devils picked up an RBI on his special night.

“It’s like having another coach,” Blue Devils head coach Rick Lawson said. “He’s always helping keep guys in the right direction. It’s going to be tough not having him next year.”

After the first inning, both pitchers settled in and got better as the night went on. Nettleton was on the mound for Sterling, while Drake Gibson got the start for the Blue Devils.

Gibson continued to battle for the Blue Devils as he went seven innings with four strikeouts, while giving up seven hits, two walks and three runs.

“Even in the first inning there weren’t a lot of hard-hit balls,” Lawson said. “It was a lot of weak contact that found some holes. He battled through that and really settled in from the second inning on. He gave us a chance to win, and that’s all you can ask for.”

It would stay 2-1 for a while until the fourth inning. The Blue Devils caught a break to even up the score. Mason Ritter hit a single to start the inning. With one out in the inning, the Warriors tried to pick off Ritter at first base. They were unsuccessful as the throw went over the first baseman’s head and down the right field line. Ritter advanced to third on the error. James Day hit an RBI single up the middle to tie the game at two, as he reached base twice tonight.

Unfortunately, for the Blue Devils they couldn’t get much going on offense. They didn’t have a lot of great scoring chances throughout the night either.

“It didn’t come for us,” Lawson said. “We hit a lot of balls in the air and didn’t take advantage of the field here. We had quite a few lazy fly balls today, and those don’t play.”

The lack of offense for the Blue Devils caught up with them in the sixth and seventh innings. Eli Penne picked up his first hit in his third plate appearance to score the go ahead run in the sixth. Sterling had a chance to add on in the seventh inning when Gibson ran into a little bit of trouble.

Coach Lawson had all the confidence in the world in Gibson and decided not to take him out of the game after a mound visit.

“We were just talking about the situation,” Lawson said. “We just tried to settle him down a little bit and get him focused on the next guy. We did have someone ready in the bullpen if needed.”

The Blue Devils had a chance in the seventh inning to tie it up. Jacob Salisbury struck out to start the inning. However, the ball got away from the catcher and he reached base. Salisbury reached third with two outs in the inning. Gibson had a chance to tie it up with a base hit. He was retired by pitcher Eli Penne to end the game.

The Blue Devils drop to 9-14 on the year as they prepare for a game at Quincy Notre Dame on Tuesday. It was a close game back in March when the Raiders defeated the Blue Devils 5-4. It should be a tense game as always.

“Pitching and defense wins games,” Lawson said. “If we make the plays defensively, we’re going to have a chance at the end of the game.”