Warwick Continental made a deep run in last year’s 11-year-old District 3 tournament, but one opponent had its number. Wickford sent Continental to the loser’s bracket after two games. When Continental battled all the way back to the championship, Wickford won again.

With the same core of players suiting up for the 12-year-old all-stars this summer, Continental was ready to start strong on another run.

Then it drew Wickford in the opening round.

The reigning champs hit four home runs in Thursday’s district opener and beat Continental 11-1. The Continental stars were set to be back in action on Monday against Warwick West Side, with results unavailable at press time.

“Definitely not the start we wanted,” said Continental manager Steve Lennon. “I think we came out a little bit nervous and it took us a while to get our feet under us. Wickford pitched a great game and played a great game.”

The good news for Continental? It knows a little something about the loser’s bracket, thanks to last year’s run. Even in the wake of the loss to Wickford, the team was focused on doing what it’s done before.

“Of course, draw of the hat, we get Wickford right out of the gate,” Lennon said. “Somehow, we’ve got to solve Wickford, but we feel good. We made a run in the loser’s bracket last year and hopefully we’ll do the same thing again.”

Continental would have liked to be in a different spot, but Wickford wasted no time taking control on Thursday. Nick Sacchetti smacked the third pitch of the game over the fence in right-center. Continental pitcher Cody Anter retired the next three batters in order, with two strikeouts mixed in, but Brandon Kearns started the second inning with another leadoff homer.

In the third, Wickford added another run on a Mason Walsh RBI single and put runners on second and third with nobody out. Anter struck out the No. 3 and No. 4 batters to put himself on the verge of escaping, but Kearns came up next and smashed the first pitch he saw over the fence in center for a three-run homer.

“They got us with the long ball,” Lennon said. “You take those away, and it’s a good baseball game.”

Geoffrey Coyne added a solo home run in the fourth, and Sacchetti tripled and scored on a fielder’s choice later in the inning. Wickford added three more in the fifth on an RBI double by Meghan Gormley and an error that allowed two runs to score.

“A couple of mistakes and they made us pay,” Lennon said. “They hit some pitches out that we didn’t expect them to hit out, and that hurts, obviously.”

At the plate, Continental couldn’t get much going against Cameron Lindberg. Anter led off the first with an infield hit before Lindberg struck out the side. He struck out seven total over 4.2 innings and allowed four hits.

Anter went 3-for-3 at the top of the order with a double and two singles. His RBI single in the fifth accounted for Continental’s only run. Pinch-runner Brett Babcock scored the run after a base hit by Will Niles.

Tyler Gaumitz had Continental’s only other hit, a second-inning single.

“This team is a better offensive team than it showed tonight,” Lennon said. “I think some of the jitters hurt. We can definitely put up runs. I think we’ll find our groove.”

Wickford went on to an 11-5 victory over Chariho for a spot in the winner’s bracket semifinals, where it was set to face Coventry American on Monday.