Closer than most people realize to being a darned good baseball team.

West struggled in early league play, but is suddenly tied for second place in the 3A South Piedmont Conference race. When West handled Concord 9-1 behind the pitching of Jared Barnette and Corey Ruff in Mount Ulla on Wednesday night, it marked its third SPC win in a row.

West (6-3, 4-2) has had outstanding pitching pretty much from opening day. The Falcon staff has held six opponents to three runs or fewer. Josh Overcash already has four saves, Drew Callicutt and John Brooks are both 2-0. Then there’s Barnette and Ruff, who combined to limit Concord (2-8, 0-7) to three hits, while striking out 14 batters and walking one.

Ruff whiffed seven Spiders in the last two innings, which might just put him in the Guinness book. But Nick Broome reached base when he swung and missed a third strike in the dirt, then scored his team’s only run on John Graham’s sixth-inning double.

Barnette (2-2) used a sharp curve to baffle Concord for the first five innings. He retired the first nine he faced and looked to have no-hit stuff. The only two hits he allowed were harmless bloops that fell in by inches.

“You always want a no-hitter,” said Barnette. “But the important thing was that we won as a team. Our defense did a great job of making the routine plays. Corey came in and closed the game and we’ve finally started to swing the bats.”

Did someone say “swing the bats?”

Barnette did, and he wasn’t joking. West had nine hits, giving the Falcons a total of 19 over their last two games. Seven different Falcons had hits, with sophs Matt Morgan and Justin Graham delivering two each. Ryan Schenk, Barnette, Shawn Trosper, Ruff, Morgan, Brooks and Graham knocked in runs.

“Coach worked us hard on defense every day and kept telling us the hits would come,” said Barnette. “Now they are.”

Lack of punch has been the only thing holding West back. If the Falcons hit, they are a threat for the postseason — even in a loaded league.

This was a must game for the Falcons. They couldn’t slip up against last-place Concord and expect to maintain serious playoff hopes. But West easily shook off a long delay at the start (the umpires arrived late after working an afternoon jayvee game in Charlotte) and some of the coldest weather of the spring to take care of business.

“I was out here at 5:30 and it was after 7:30 and we still hadn’t started,” said Barnette, who had to warm up several times before things finally got under way. “Yeah, I was raring to go.”

So were his teammates.

West jumped on Concord ace Colt Newsome in the second inning for six runs. Newsome, a lefty, hurt himself by hitting three batters in the inning. Trosper’s ringing double down the left-field line got the ball rolling and West wound up batting around.

“Colt’s outing was uncharacteristic,” said Concord coach Chris Lankford. “He’s usually around the plate, but tonight he got behind in the count and had to come in there against some kids who understand the game.”

West added a run in the fourth when big Ben Hampton chugged around the bases after his solid single got past Broome in left. The Falcons got two more in the fifth, with the key blow a triple by Barnette.

It was a trading-places sort of night for Lankford and Cauble, because this time last year, Cauble was coaching Concord, while Lankford was leading the Falcon jayvees.

“I’ve got a lot of feelings for the Concord kids,” said Cauble. “They gave me 100 percent when I was there.”

Just as they gave Lankford 100 percent last night. But the Spiders’ effort was overmatched by West’s hurlers. Concord hasn’t had more than five hits in a game all season and couldn’t do any damage against quality right-handers like Barnette and Ruff.