In the first game, the Cherry squad jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back on its way to an 18-4 victory. Cherry opened the first with a Garrett Gouldsmith single, a Dylan Zavala single, a Jared Mang RBI double and a Jeff Deimling RBI double to make it 2-0 with Chris Dunn adding a sacrifice fly later in the inning to make it 3-0.
Silver got a run back in the bottom of the first on a Hayden Schilling RBI triple and trailed 5-2 after the third thanks to a Cherry home run from Dunn, but big innings by Cherry in the fifth and sixth put the game away.
Dunn led Cherry, going 3-for-3 with a home run and double while Mang and Deimling each finished 2-for-3 for Cherry with a pair of doubles.
Daniel Zakosek led Silver, going 2-for-3 with a double.
Cherry’s Justin Slaten went three innings and gave up two runs on three hits while Blake Walden went three innings and gave up two runs on four hits.
The series continues with Game 3 1 p.m. Sunday at Santa Ana Star Field.