It went like this: a perfect game into the fourth inning; a no-hitter into the fifth. A four-run lead that shrank to one (4-3) in the sixth, back to a three-run edge in the top of the final frame, then a clutch ‘K’ in the home half to close it out.

In the end, Warriors center fielder Brailee Avner’s two-run home run in the top of the seventh became more than a cushion. It became necessary when Layton countered with two in the bottom of the inning to tighten it up yet again.

Strasburg closed on a strikeout with the tying run at first base, though, and Weber escaped with a 6-5 victory over the Lancers in a dandy Region 1 weather-related make-up game.

“My approach in the seventh, I was thinking stay calm and just drive the ball,” Avner said. “I wasn’t looking for a home run, I was looking for a base hit, because we really needed a couple of runs to save Kendall and take the stress off of her.”

Weber (6-4, 5-1 Region 1) built its early four-run lead with runs on two errors, a wild pitch and a botched fielder’s choice by a young Lancer team (6-5, 3-3) that only has three seniors.

“We’ve got freshman, sophomore, freshman pitching, sophomore behind the plate, a lot of young kinds in the infield,” Layton coach Kiley Crockett said. “Every game is faster when you’re 14 than when you’re 18. Do the little things and we’ll be fine; just know the situations, let the game come to us and take what’s given.”

After Alissa Reisbeck broke up the Strasburg no-hit bid with a fifth-inning double, Layton plated three in the sixth, courtesy of a towering three-run home run by Joslyn Purcell, closing the gap to 4-3.

“When they scored, I just thought, get out of the inning and go back and score more runs; it didn’t really bug me that much,” Strasburg said.

Ellie Nielson drew a two-out walk and Avner followed with the two-run shot to make it 6-3 and give the Warriors some breathing room.

“Four to three is a lot of stress going into the seventh inning, but ‘B’ (Brailee) hit the home run and it took a lot of stress off,” Strasburg said. “Then I settled down too much and lost my focus for a second, but it came back.”

Layton’s Tasia Shibuya looped a one-out, two-run single to center field to make it 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh, but Strasburg finished with a swinging strikeout to wrap up the complete game.

The win sees WHS climb, for now, into a three-way tie for first place in Region 1 with Fremont and Farmington through the first half of region games.

Strasburg yielded eight hits — seven in the last two innings — walked three and struck out five, which means her teammates contributed to 16 outs behind her.

“My fielders did a good job when the ball was put in play; they made plays and it took the stress off of me, so them doing their job was key,” Strasburg said.

Strasburg also went 3 for 3 at bat with a walk. Avner had two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored and Olivia Boswell added two hits.

“I felt good; I was swinging easy, not trying to rip the cover off the ball,” Avner said. “Just easy and swing through the ball.”