The best Major League Baseball teams show patience at the plate.

That’s a skill that works at the high school level, too.

Brother Rice forced Stevenson’s pitchers to throw strikes when the teams met Wednesday in a Division 1 regional semifinal game at Birmingham Seaholm. When the Titans struggled to do that, the Warriors took advantage of the situation and cruised to a 15-3 victory and a regional championship matchup with Dakota at Grand Blanc High School Saturday at 10 a.m.

The day couldn’t have started any better for Brother Rice. The first two batters — Cash Van Ameyde and Maks Neshov — hit identical singles through the hole between first and second. Broder Katke and Cole Van Ameyde followed with walks to force in the game’s first run.

Back-to-back doubles from Freddie Beyer and CJ Hornberger drove in three more runs and when Stevenson got the final out of the first inning, the Warriors were up 6-0.

“Six runs in the first inning is a nice thing to have, especially with Cole (Duhaime) on the mound and Broder behind the dish,” said coach Bob Riker. “It’s a nice matchup to have. I don’t want to say it’s comfortable but it gives you a cushion where it isn’t high-leverage innings all the time.”

Brother Rice had three walks in the first inning, four in the seven-run sixth and eight total for the game.

“We made their pitcher work (in the first inning),” Riker said. “We didn’t help him out much so he had to bring it in. We were very patient at the plate looking for our pitches. We made it difficult and forced them into high-leverage innings for most of the first half of the game. It’s tough for a pitcher.”

Jackson Haefner is the Warriors’ freshman third baseman and he fits right in with the patience theme, drawing a first-inning walk.

“Our whole team’s been doing that a lot,” Haefner said. “Everybody works the count and we have real good at bats.

“(The six-run first) gave us momentum at the beginning. It’s less stress for everyone. And Cole came out and threw good.”

A tight strike zone didn’t do the Stevenson pitchers any favors.

“The umpire had a tight, but very consistent strike zone for both teams,” said Titans coach Joe Emanuele. “You have to get the ball in there and we didn’t do a very good job at the beginning and the end of the game. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Duhaime, a Virginia commit, didn’t have any trouble throwing the ball over the plate. The left-hander gave up his only walk in the sixth inning. He scattered seven hits and struck out four. He left with the bases loaded in the sixth and Grady Preston came in to record the final out to strand them.

“Cole’s been in these types of situations,” Riker said. “He had a full week of rest. It’s all about managing the arms. These guys have bigger and better baseball ahead of them so I don’t want to overthrow them. We have enough guys who can compete and do the job.”

Haefner, who played a solid defensive game, had the big hit in the sixth inning — a three-run homer. It was his third home run of the season. Tristan Turner had an RBI double in the sixth.

Brother Rice scored twice in the third, one of the runs scoring on Hornberger’s second double of the game.

Stevenson scored its first two runs on leadoff homers by Carson Sweet in the second and Scott Leonard in the fifth. Consecutive doubles by John Lonsway and Jake Leonard produced another Titans run in the fifth.

Wyatt Pulliam came on to pitch in the first and kept Stevenson within striking distance until the sixth-inning outburst that ended the game on mercy rule.

“Our Achilles heel has been not enough arms,” Emanuele said. “That’s what has hurt us all year. We’ve played great defense. We had a good hitting team. We had some guys who really battled to keep us in it but at the end we kind of lost our luster. That’s a good team we played.”

Stevenson ended the season 25-11.

“They battled all year. They never quit,” Emanuele said. “They were a tight, cohesive team.”