AMERICUS — Mike Russell was 3-for-3, and Geoffrey McDonald struck out 10 as Sumter Area beat Albany National 10-0 in Game 1 of the Little League Sub-district series held in Americus on Monday.

Sumter broke open for seven runs in the third inning and closed the game with three more in the fourth.

“We’re glad to get the win,” said coach Marty McDonald. “I thought it was a game we should have won. We started out slow, but we finally got a few hits together and won the game.

Game 2 of the series is 6 p.m. today.

McDonald faced one batter over the limit and allowed one hit in picking up the win.

“I thought he threw the ball pretty well, but it wasn’t his best stuff,” said Marty. “His control was off a little bit, and he had a full count on a lot of batters. I think he just lacked a little focus, and he got behind the batters a little bit. But he never really got in any trouble. He needs to bear down and get ahead in counts. I hope he improves on his performance for the next time.”

Sumter hit into two double plays in the first two innings before the offense came alive.

An Alex Mast bouncer over the pitcher, and a triple that bounced through the right side of the infield to the fence from Aaron Morris each scored two runs to give Sumter 5-0 and 7-0 leads.

“We got a few good hops and a few balls went through,” said McDonald. “We did what we were supposed to and scored a bunch of runs.”

McDonald said Russell stepped up big for the team.

“He was definitely the bright spot in the offense tonight,” he said. “He’s really been working on his bunting and hitting to the opposite field. The days we’ve had off, he’s going to the cage and hitting for an hour or so, and you can tell it. I’m proud of the work he’s put in to make himself a better player.”

Hunter Weldon started the fourth with a double and eventually scored, and Russell ended the game by scoring the 10th run.

McDonald says Weldon will start today, but knows there’s a lot of arms ready to go.

“Hunter’s been throwing the ball real well, and I feel like if he throws strikes, we won’t give up many runs, and everything else will take care of itself,” he said.