With a hot bat and a lot of support from his teammates, Landon Bull took down a pack of Bulls.

Bull, the shortstop and leadoff hitter for the Vicksburg Bluejays, went 4-for-4 with an RBI double to lead his team to a 19-1 victory in the opening game of the 8-year-olds’ Governor’s Cup tournament Friday night at Halls Ferry Park.

The Bluejays smashed 21 hits total in the four-inning run-rule shortened game. Trell Bershell was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, and Zane Flaharty was 3-for-4 with a double, RBI and two runs scored.

“At this young age they’re sporadic. This game might be followed by a bad one. I was proud of them. They came out and hit the ball hard and played good defense,” Bluejays coach Nathan Karel said.

Karel’s cautious optimism was well-founded. The Bluejays dropped the second game of a pool play doubleheader Friday, XXX to the Vicksburg Billies. That will likely make them the No. 3 or 4 seed when the elimination round begins today at 11 a.m.

The Billies and Bulls each have one more game of pool play this morning. The championship game of the four-team coach-pitch bracket is at 1 p.m.

Karel said finishing pool play early has its advantages and disadvantages.

“Since we don’t have the early game we can sleep later. But we do play when it’s 110 degrees. It’s a trade-off,” Karel laughed as he referred to today’s forecast high of 100 degrees.

The Bluejays were almost that hot in Friday’s opener. They scored four runs in the top of the first inning, then put the game out of reach with seven more in the third to take a 12-1 lead.

Aaron David drove in two runs with a double in the third inning, then scored on Bull’s double. Bull, in turn, scored on a single by Flaharty as the Bluejays batted around.

“In the top of the third,” Bull said when asked when he felt the Bluejays put the game away. “We scored a lot of runs in that inning, so I just knew it.”

Despite the loss, Vicksburg Bulls coach Bubba Little said he was proud of his team, which has played just three tournaments this summer.

“We’ve got 12 good players,” Little said. “If they ever come together as a team, we’ll have a good team.”