MM amassed just three hits in Monday’s 8-3 loss to Ridgefield in both team’s Greater St. Helens 2A League opener.

So the Monarchs (0-1 league, 1-2-1) know they’re going to be swinging the bat plenty in the 72 hours leading up to Civil War baseball at 4 p.m. Friday at The Lumberyard.

“Our hands are going to bleed and blister up, but we’re going to take some hacks,” Mackey said.

Despite just two hits through five innings, the Monarchs had built a 3-1 lead courtesy of several Spudders (1-0, 3-3) errors and a strong performance from southpaw Levi Atkins on the mound, who had a no-hitter broken up in the sixth.

Easton McClung led off the fourth with a chopper that resembled more of a bunt that the third baseman couldn’t quite scamper to in time. That was followed by a single to left by Dawson St. Jean and a hard hit by Jordan Frost that bounced past the Ridgefield shortstop and scored both McClung and St. Jean.

Ridgefield mistakes scored Brent Myklebust in the fifth, too, as he reached on an error, got to second on an error, stole third and then scored on an errant pickoff throw.

“We did a better job today of competing,” said Mackey, who applauded his team’s communication even after slipping late, an improvement after “rolling over” in a 13-3 loss to W.F. West last week.

Atkins took his no-hitter into the sixth inning, although a walk, stolen base, groundout and a wild pitch scored a Ridgefield run in the third.

But as the lefty senior fatigued in the sixth, his control started to slip and two walks and two hits allowed the Spudders to tie the game at 3-all.

“I had a rough first two starts with walks,” Atkins said. “Even today, I had a lot of walks (four) but I was able to work around it.”

Mackey said he considered pulling Atkins after seeing the signs of fatigue, including a fastball that started rising in the strike zone, but his next pitcher didn’t have a chance to warmup, considering he was playing shortstop at the time, Mackey said.

“It ended up boiling down to just getting one more out,” Mackey said. “(Atkins) did a great job of battling and competing. Unfortunately it didn’t go our way.”

St. Jean came on in the seventh, and allowed four hits, including a leadoff double, a walk and five runs.

McClung went 2 for 3 and St. Jean went 1 for 2 with a walk.

“Today happened. That’s baseball,” Atkins said. “We’re not going to win every game. We’re just going to go out next game and do everything we can.”