The Pinecrest baseball team capped off a week that already included two no-hit victories with an encore performance at John Williams Field, Friday night.

Taylor MacDonald pitched the third no-hitter in a row for the Patriots, matching his brother Andrew's pitching artistry on Wednesday. The senior right-hander was supported by five home runs -- four of them coming in a stunning 10-run second inning.

The Patriots defeated Seventy-First 18-0 in a game that ended after five innings under the 10-run mercy rule. They take a 10-1 overall and 6-1 conference record into Tuesday's non-league tilt at Lumberton.

Andrew MacDonald's pitching gem against Jack Britt, and a combined no-hitter by Dillon Maples and Joe Herbert against Westover on Tuesday, all came in five-inning run-rule contests.

"Three no-hitters in a week," Taylor MacDonald said almost disbelievingly afterward. "That's one of the most impressive things I've ever seen. And we hit eight home runs as a team this week. That's impressive too."

The Patriots were leading Seventy-First 4-0 when Andrew MacDonald led off the bottom of the second. With a brisk wind favoring the hitters, he hit a towering fly ball that cleared the fence in right field. Jacob Gibson and Dillon Maples followed with circuit clouts over the fences in right center and left-center, respectively.

Taylor MacDonald, who homered twice on Tuesday, was nicked by a pitch. Trent Fredericks then lined a two-run homer to left-center, making it 9-0 with still nobody out. James Baldwin III and Brian Smith contributed doubles in an inning that saw 16 Patriots come to the plate.

The final three runs came on the home team's fifth home run of the contest, a three-run blast to straight-away center by sophomore Patrick Moore in the bottom of the fourth inning.

"Patrick's might have been have been the deepest one tonight," Patriot coach Jeff Hewitt said. "In a park like this, you square it up and anything can happen. Sometimes we've had kids tend to over-swing in this park. These kids do what they can do."

Maples, another sophomore, stroked his sixth double of the season in the first inning before hitting his first home run in the second. He was asked if he envisioned a group of returnees that combined to hit only three home runs a year ago, displaying this kind of power.

"If you asked me that at the beginning of the season I would never have thought that," he said. "But tonight was a special night. Coach Woolard (Roger) and all of the coaches have been working with us on our swings. And J.B. (pitching coach James Baldwin) has been doing a good job with the pitchers. That's really shown on the field."

A first-inning infield error provided the Falcons with their only base runner of the game against Taylor MacDonald. The senior struck out eight batters in raising his record to 2-1. He has allowed only one earned run, and walked only one batter while striking out 25 in 17 innings this season.

Hewitt too, marveled about the performance of the pitching staff, and the uniqueness of twin brothers, pitching no-hitters in consecutive games albeit ones limited to five innings.

"I don't know if it's ever happened - brothers doing what they do," he said.

The Patriots recorded a total of 17 hits against the Falcons (0-8, 0-6) led by Moore with three, and Andrew MacDonald, Brian Smith, Maples and James Baldwin III with two apiece.

In spite of the three one-sided victories this week that added up to 47 runs and 43 hits for Pinecrest -- and one run and no hits allowed, Hewitt is not concerned about complacency on his team's part.

"We realize we're going to see better pitching down the road, but by no means will we let this affect our play," he said. "One thing that Trent Fredericks said when he came in (from an inning) was, 'now that's Pinecrest baseball'. They realize it's not about themselves. It's about the program and about people that played in our program.

"We want to keep the community excited about what's going on and get them out here. The kids are having a good time coming to the ballpark and that's what it's about."

Seventy-First 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

Pinecrest 4 10 1 3 - 18 17 1

Hufford, Jiminez (2) and Austin; T. MacDonald and Fredericks, Rush (3), Fredericks (4).WP T. MacDonald (2-1) LP Hufford; Leading hitters (P) Moore 3-3, HR, 3 RBI, Maples 2-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, A. MacDonald 2-2, HR, RBI, Smith 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, Baldwin 2-2, 2B, Fredericks 1-1, HR, 2 RBI, Gibson 1-2, HR, RBI