He works fast. And he's usually quite efficient. So it went Monday morning for Mesa High's Schyler Dush, who did more than keep his team in the game.

Dush tamed Highland with a complete-game, five-hitter, pitching the Jackrabbis to a 3-1 victory over host Highland on the first day of the 7th annual Highland Triple Play Classic. The game took just one hour and 15 minutes.

"He's told me he wants to be the guy," Mesa coach Mike Masciangelo said. "He is our No. 1. He wants to beat the big teams. So we let him go out and take his shot against the big boys."

Dush, a lefty with three good pitches, didn't allow more than one hit in any inning. Most pitches he throws come within 10 seconds of the previous one. The only run he allowed Monday was unearned and it scored on an infield hit. Dush struck out six and didn't walk a batter. Mesa is 6-6 overall for the seasonl.

"(Catcher) Brandon (Downs) called a great game," Masciangelo said.  "He got Schyler to mix his pitches and kept them off balance."

Downs also delivered for his battery mate, ripping a two-out, tie-breaking single in the fifth for the deciding runs. Mesa put together four consecutie hits in the bottom of the inning to negate Highland's tying run in the top half of the inning. Downs was 2-for-3 on the day as were Anthony Perez and  Brock Hale. Hale blasted a solo homer in the first to dead center

As Dush prepared to head to the mound for the seventh he double-checked on what part of the order he was facing. It was 7-8-9. It took just seven pitches to close out the contest.

Highland right-hander Tanner Folio wasn't too shabby, either. He gave up 10 hits, struck out four and didn't walk a batter. It was only Highland's second loss of the season. Tyler Brown drove in Highland's only run.

The Hawks are 7-2 overall, including a 5-0 mark in wnning the Panther (Amphitheater) Invitational 10 days ago. Highland won two of three power-point games last week (beating Dobson and Casa Grande and losing to Gilbert).

After the first day of play in the tournament, Cesar Chavez leads Pool A with a 2-0 record -- 6-5 win over Mesa High and a 7-6 victory over Apache Junction. Mesa and Apache Junction are 1-1 and Highland is 0-2. Highland also lost its late game Monday, 2-1, to AJ.

The Pool B leader is Dobson (2-0), Dobson topped Perry 11-2 and Williams Field, 3-2. Williams Field is 1-1 and Perry 0-2. The fourth team in Pool B is defending tournament champ John Paul II (Texas). John Paul II plays a triple-header Tuesday with games at 9 a.m. (Dobson), noon (Williams Field) and 3 p.m. (Perry).  All games in the tournament are being played at Highland High.