West Fork appeared destined for a long night in Lake Mills after the first two innings Monday when the Warhawks faced the Bulldogs in the season opener.

Lake Mills starter Chris Throne cruised through the first six hitters he faced, picking up five strikeouts, but in the third leadoff hitter Logan Pals struck for a two-run homer that gave West Fork a 2-1 lead and was the first of three home runs in consecutive innings as Warhawks downed the Bulldogs 12-8.

Cody Hallarn connected for a three-run blast in the fifth inning that pushed the West Fork lead to 7-1 and the Warhawks went on to score seven runs in the inning and take a 10-1 lead.

That was it for Throne, who finished with nine strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

“I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing when your pitcher is striking everyone out,” said Bulldogs head coach Jason Blaser. “I guess it’s good, but I think it kind of lulls the defense to sleep a little bit and they get back on their heels maybe when the opportunity comes to make a play they weren’t expecting it, they weren’t quite as ready for it.”

The Bulldogs came back for a four-run bottom half of the fifth with Brad Midlang and Josh Zabel picking up RBIs. Royce Byrnes came through with a two-run hit that made the game 10-5.

Scott Meester came on in relief for West Fork and limited Lake Mills to just two hits during the final three innings of the game, but one of the hits was a homer by Midlang in the seventh. Midlang drove a pitch to left center for a two-run homer that drew the game to 12-8.

The Bulldogs tallied 10 hits in the game while the Warhawks had nine, but the long balls were too much for Lake Mills to weather as two of the homers came with runners on.

“I was waiting for someone to really drive the ball,” Blaser said. “We didn’t hit the ball deep, necessarily, but we hit the ball hard.”

Levi Dahle had an RBI single in the first that gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. Midlang finished 1-for-4 with two RBIs while Throne went 2-for-2 with three runs scored and an RBI.

Lake Mills plays Rockford in a doubleheader Wednesday in Lake Mills.

West Fork 12, Lake Mills 8

West Fork 002 171 1 — 12 9 2

Lake Mills 100 400 3 — 8 10 2

WP — Scott Meester 3 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

LP — Chris Throne 4 1/3 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 9 K