BLACK EARTH — Ryan Hering will not have to embellish when he recalls his first career outfield assist.

The Wisconsin Heights junior center fielder honestly can say he gunned down a runner at the plate with two outs in the seventh inning to preserve a victory.

Hering also can mention the first-place throw was on a line.

With Marshall courtesy runner Josh Leese on second base, Hering scooped up Bryan Weisman's smash through the middle and hit catcher Bryce Barsness' mitt on the fly about 5 feet up the first-base line.

Barsness sprinted back to the plate and tagged Leese, who was beginning a head-first dive. The bang-bang play allowed Heights to hold on for a 3-2 victory Tuesday afternoon, and break a tie among the teams atop the Southern Capitol Conference baseball standings with three league games remaining.

"(Leese) probably was no more than three-fourths down the (line) and I just threw it and got him," Hering said.

Added Barsness: "I had to dive a lot but it was a great throw, though."

Heights (11-3, 11-2 Southern Capitol) tied the score at 2 on freshman right fielder Aaryn Handel's two-out, two-run single in the third and went ahead when first baseman Zach Nelson's single scored winning pitcher Quintin Zander from third base in the sixth.

It was the Vanguards' 10th straight victory. Marshall (10-6, 10-3) scored an unearned run in the first and went up 2-0 on catcher Jake Miller's RBI double in the second. But the Cardinals later would watch Hering's throw help topple them from first place.

"That was an absolute laser. I had never seen a throw like that in a high school baseball game," Marshall coach Matt Kleinheinz said. "That was an absolute cannon."