The Nashua 12-year-old Cal Ripken All-Stars baseball team couldn’t have asked for a better start to state tournament play. Nashua scored six runs in the top of the first inning, and never looked back as it cruised to an 18-8 mercy-rule win in six innings over Dover in State Tournament play Saturday.

Nashua played again Sunday at 3 p.m. The results of that game were unavailable at press time.

Sammy Malignaggi led Nashua at the plate with three hits, a walk and four RBI, while Zach Finkelstein added a pair of hits, including a three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning to extend Nashua’s lead to 16-5. Brendan Auriana got the start on the mound for Nashua, allowing five runs on just two hits in 21?3 innings of work.

Jack Gauthier followed that up with one shutout inning and Tony Gallinaro went two innings and allowed three runs on five hits.

Gauthier got the only hit for Nashua in the top of the first, while the rest of the runs came from the six walks, two errors and a hit by pitch allowed by Dover.

Nashua extended its lead to 9-1 on Andrew Penkala’s two-run single followed by hits by Andre Laplante, Malignaggi and Auriana. Malignaggi opened up the game in the third as his second hit of the contest drove in his third and fourth RBI and gave Nashua a 12-2 advantage.

Dover continued to battle back with runs in the bottom half of the third, fourth and fifth, but Nashua finally ended the game when they plated their 18th run in the top of the sixth on a hit by Gallinaro, who finished the game with two hits and three walks in five at-bats.

Hollis Brookline also took part in the tournament in Nashua Saturday, but didn’t have the same success, falling to Concord 3-2 in extra innings.

Exeter topped Keene 6-0, while Youngsville cruised to a convincing, 13-2, win over Con Val.