ORLEANS — After a rocky start, the Nauset Warriors baseball team turned in a gritty performance, hanging in to the end against an undefeated (6-0) St. John Paul II squad before dropping a 5-2 decision on Monday at Eldredge Park.

The Lions scored before the first out was recorded on a walk, a hit batter, and a single. Another single and a walk generated a 3-0 advantage before Nauset starter Emmet Blatz got a pop up to end the inning. Blatz, a junior, settled down after that, allowing only two more hits until the seventh, when he appeared to tire.

“It was a rough first inning, but Blatz was dominant from the second inning on,” said Coach Brett Labonte in a post-game assessment. “He settled in and worked his butt off.” Labonte was pleased that Blatz was able to pitch into the seventh, eating up innings at the start of a week that would see the Warriors play three more times.

Nauset managed only two singles in the contest, both coming in the third against Lions’ starter Brian Mancinelli. Those hits, combined with two Lions errors, a wild pitch, and a walk led to two runs, and the teams entered the fourth inning with Nauset trailing, 3-2.

“Those are two of the best pitchers we will see this season,” said Labonte of Mancinelli and Tyler Ross, who came on in relief in the fourth inning and held the Warriors hitless the rest of the way.

The Warriors managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh after the Lions added two insurance runs in the top of the frame. Cleanup hitter Paul Alves came up with two outs and two on, but Ross induced him to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the game.

Alves and Caleb McLaughlin had the Warriors’ hits.

Despite the loss, Labonte saw plenty that he liked in his team’s performance. “We battled back, and this was a step in the right direction,” the coach said. “There are definitely some things that we can feed off.”

Eldredge Park was freshly mowed and the soothing smell of fresh-cut grass lingered. The infield showed no ill effects from the rains that had battered it for two days, thanks to outstanding efforts from the maintenance team in the hours before the first pitch. Topping it off was the fact that the ospreys were back for the season, observing the proceedings from their perch high atop the left field light stanchion as if they had never left.

After an away game at Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday, the Warriors (1-3) will look for their first home win of the season on Friday against Falmouth. First pitch is at 4:30.