When they played in April, it was the first game of the season.

For the Bishop Hendricken baseball team, Wednesday’s rematch with Cranston West felt like the real beginning.

The Hawks lost that first game to West. Since then, they’ve won all their games, but nobody in the Hawks camp felt that they’d been perfect. With weather postponements, injuries and shuffled lineups all part of the feeling, the Hawks found themselves stuck in neutral.

They shifted into high gear on Wednesday.

Chris Sheehan allowed one hit in five shutout innings and the Hawks blasted 11 hits en route to an 11-0 mercy-rule victory over the previously unbeaten Falcons. More than a marquee win, it’s also a starting point for what the Hawks hope will be a big stretch run.

“I think we played our best game today so hopefully we carry it forward,” Hendricken coach Ed Holloway said. “We lost a lot of guys from last year, but we have a lot of guys back and a lot of good players. I just did not feel like we’ve played to our potential. I told the captains late last week that we’re not even close to where we can be. We were 9-1, but I didn’t feel like we had played to our ability. Today is the best day we’ve had. West is one of the best four teams in the state.”

It’s no coincidence that the Hawks’ best day came against West. After the first West game, their schedule took a strange turn. The way the crossover slate shook out, they didn’t have to play Smithfield or La Salle, Division I-North’s top two teams. As a result, a pair of 7-6 teams – Pilgrim and St. Raphael – have the best record among Hendricken’s opponents other than West.

The rematch with the Falcons offered a bigger stage, and the Hawks welcomed it.

“We came out and we were real pumped up,” Sheehan said. “We knew this was a big game.”

That intensity served them well. The Hawks scored three runs in each of the first three innings and two more in the fourth to put the mercy rule into play. Sheehan worked around a leadoff walk in the fifth and posted back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.

For Sheehan, who was held out of the first West game, it was a perfect day. The senior righty finished with seven strikeouts.

“When coach Holloway told me the first time that I wasn’t going to pitch, he guaranteed me that I’d pitch in this game,” Sheehan said. “I’ve been looking forward to this all year.”

Sheehan had plenty of support. Facing West’s No. 2 starter, Tyler Corsi, the Hawks got the bats going early and often. Two runs scored on an error in the bottom of the first and another came home on a single by Billy Walker. In the second, Walker smashed a three-run double, and in the third, Joe Lopes cracked a two-run double. Jeff Roy and Jordan Nasser each picked up an RBI in the fourth.

Through it all, there was a feeling that the Hawks had found a groove.

“We got guys on base, and we really hit the ball,” Holloway said. “I thought we did a nice job.”

Nasser had three hits and Roy and Chris Costantino delivered two. Walker, a freshman who has worked his way into the lineup as the starting designated hitter, was 3-for-3 with four RBI. Walker has been red-hot of late and is hitting over .400.

“He’s been coming on,” Holloway said. “The last three or four games, he’s really done a great job. We never would have kept him [on varsity] if we didn’t think he would play. We didn’t know exactly where he would fit in or how much he would play, but we knew he could definitely help us. He came through. He’s earned it. He’s out there hitting and he works hard. If we didn’t think he could help us, he’d be playing freshman.”

With Walker’s help, the Hawks coasted to the victory over West, and they were all smiles after the game. Not only was it a payback win in a heated rivalry, it was proof that the Hawks can do big things.

“There have been games where we don’t all come to play,” Sheehan said. “We’re there, but our intensity isn’t all the way up. Today, we really showed what we’re capable of when everybody comes together. That’s a great team over there, and we beat them pretty good.”

Hendricken had its Thursday game against Vets postponed. They’ll return to action today at 4 p.m. with a home game against Toll Gate.