WINFIELD - The roller coaster season for Winfield was back on an uptick Thursday evening.

Junior left-hander Mason Dillon fired a complete game and scattered seven hits, leading the Generals to a 5-1 victory over Putnam County rival Hurricane (21-4), the No. 1 team in the Gazette's Class AAA state ratings. Winfield plated four runs in the fourth with only two balls leaving the infield.

Dillon (6-1) struck out five and walked just one in working his sixth complete game, and his third in seven calendar days. He pitched six innings in a 3-1 loss at Nitro Friday and seven innings in a 6-0 win over Spring Valley Monday.

"It's always been that way,'' Dillon said. "I've always had a pretty strong arm and been able to come back out and throw in just a couple days.''

Generals coach Will Isaacs said Dillon's frequent mound miles are all part of a plan.

"What we're trying to do as we come down to sectional time,'' Isaacs said, "is to get our two, three main pitchers in a rotation so that we can just pitch them maybe twice in the week of the sectional. We've been doing that the last couple weeks, working them on two days' rest. That way they can get acclimated to that so that they might be able to do it in the sectional.''

Dillon wriggled out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the top of the fifth by inducing Trey Dawson to ground out to first baseman L.D. McBrayer. Dillon allowed an RBI single to Tate Brock in the sixth, but Brock was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

"My arm started to slow down on me since the fourth,'' Dillon said, "so I had to throw strikes and throw to contact, and then make the plays. [Isaacs] tells me every game to go as long as I can.''

The win was the latest up in a season full of highs and lows for Winfield (13-10), which has lost five one-run games - four to ranked teams - and also mercy-ruled opponents like Nitro and Huntington.

"One thing about our kids,'' Isaacs said, "is that they've remained enthusiastic and hustled on and off the field and played hard. They enjoy playing, even with those ups and downs, and those are tough sometimes. They keep each other up and keep pushing each other.''

Enthusiasm was something Hurricane coach Brian Sutphin thought his team lacked as it had a six-game win streak snapped.

"I thought [Dillon] threw a good game,'' Sutphin said, "and we didn't come to play - and that's not taking anything away from them. But our kids made the choice not to come to play, and I don't have the answer to that. Their kids fought more. They came to play, and we did not. It has happened before, and you live and learn and you get better and you regroup.''

There might even be more good news headed Winfield's way regarding injured senior pitcher-infielder Dusty Kincaid.

Kincaid, who was struck in the head by a line drive in a game against Huntington on March 19 and suffered a fractured skull that required emergency surgery, has continued his recovery to the point where it's possible he could return to play. He'll have a recent CT scan read on Monday, then doctors will make recommendations.

"No. 1, we're just hoping above all that he can get back to school,'' Isaacs said, "and I know he's anxious for that. We just remain prayerful that the good Lord blessed him so far that he can bring him back through this. We're optimistic that even if he doesn't play, we just like him being back. I told him today it's good to hear his voice in the dugout. For him, that would just be icing on the cake if he can come back to play.''

Barrett Arnold manufactured a 1-0 lead for Winfield in the first when he walked, stole second, took third on an infield single by Zach Gunter and came around to score when the ball got away at first base.

The Generals made it 5-0 in the fourth on two hits, two walks and a hit batter. Bear Bellomy had an infield single for an RBI, Brandon Wright drew a bases-loaded walk, Matt Wright followed with a run-scoring groundout and Arnold added a sacrifice fly.

Reach Rick Ryan at 304-348-5175 or rickr...@wvgazette.com.