East Union finally got its offense untracked in a 9-1 Valley Oak League win Wednesday against visiting Manteca, but of the Lancers’ nine hits, the biggest may have been one that didn’t even leave the infield.

Carson Sanders legged out a two-out single with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, unlocking the floodgates for a six-run shelling that capped the final score. The senior catcher worked the count to 1-2 and drilled sharp grounder fielded cleanly by Manteca shortstop Cameron Jimenez, but Sanders was able to beat the throw to first base.

“I was just trying to put the ball in play, put the pressure on the defense, put my head down and run as fast as I could,” Sanders said. “Try to make them either boot the ball or somehow beat it out. Just wanted to extend the inning and pass the stick to my teammates.”

Kirk Simoni followed with a two-strike, two-run single to straightaway center. Sanders and Simoni then advanced on a wild pitch handled well by catcher Preston Smith, whose throw to third arrived a tick late.

“That was huge for our catcher to hustle down the line,” East Union coach Dan Bauer said. “We always preach ‘hard 90s,’ and for our leader to do that was awesome.”

The Lancers weren’t done yet, as clean-up batter Blake Mount drove them both in with his second double of the game. Joe Alvarez punctuated the rally with an RBI single to left.

Mount finished 2 for 4 and was the winning pitcher, while lead-off hitter Jackson Fay (1 for 2, two walks, two runs) and No. 9 batter Peyton Heath (1 for 1, two walks, run) both reached three times.

It was the kind of bounce-back effort the Lancers (4-1 VOL, 12-4 overall) were looking for following their lackluster 5-2 loss in the series opener Monday at Manteca. Although they won three of their first four league contests, the Lancers had no more than five hits in each. This was the first time in weeks that they put all facets of the game together.

“On Monday, we just couldn’t get the bats going at all, and even when we did we weren’t capitalizing,” Mount said. “We knew coming into today that we had to throw more strikes, because if we’re not throwing strikes and giving them free runners that just gives them more (opportunities) to score. That was really the difference today, and the bats came alive.”

The fleet-footed Fay sparked the Lancers early, leading off the home half of the first inning with a walk. He advanced to second on a steal and later scored after an errant throw on his successful steal at third.

East Union then strung together three straight two-out hits in the second starting with Davien Fagundes hit to left. Heath crushed a double to plate Fagundes, and Fay made it 3-0 with his towering triple to the right-center field fence.

The fourth-inning fusillade put the game well out of reach, with the efficient pitching of Mount and his defense handling the rest. The middle-infield tandem of second baseman Brayden Camara and Heath turned three double plays, while corner infielders Simoni and Fagudes at third and first, respectively, also flashed their defensive acumen.

“I appreciate the defense so much,” Mount said. “They were amazing for me today. I wasn’t striking a lot of people out, they were putting the ball in play. Our defense just played great behind me.”

Mount had just two strikeouts, both in the first inning, but retired the final batters he faced. He limited Manteca to five hits and walked two.

Manteca (3-2, 13-3-1) scored its only run in the third. Nick Garcia was hit by a pitch and scored on a double play. The Buffaloes only had two more runners in scoring position for the rest of the game. Julian Oliveri drew a leadoff walk in the fifth but was left stranded on third because of a 4-6-3 double play.

“That’s been the series, so far — one hit or one strike away,” Manteca coach Mark Ruiz said. “That’s baseball.

“We struggled with our pitching location today, we left the ball up a lot. On 0-2 (counts), we made a few mistakes. (East Union) did a great job pitching and playing defense, turning multiple double plays.”

Freshman Jeremy Cross pitched the first three innings for Manteca and took the loss. Noah Navarro, Jesse Bella and George Mendoza threw in relief.

The rubber match is Friday at Manteca.