If you're ever curious as to what the key to success is at the Kamloops International Baseball Tournament, perhaps ask the man who has won 10 of them.

Because Seattle Studs manager Barry Aden will tell you that a team won't go anywhere without solid pitching, and lots of it.

And this year's Studs squad has lots of it.

Josh Berry got the ball rolling for Seattle, striking out eight in a complete-game two-hitter as the Studs opened the 39th KIBT with a 6-0 victory over the St. Albert, Alta., Tigers on Thursday night at NorBrock Stadium.

The Studs, winners of three of the last four KIBTs, are to play the Kelowna Jays today, 2:30 p.m., and the Everett Merchants at 8 p.m.

As good as Berry was Thursday - he only allowed three baserunners - the Studs have come to expect similar efforts from all six of their starters.

"Josh is a veteran guy, and he's been great for years," said Aden, who has been named the tournament's top manager six times, including in 2010. "This is exactly what we expected from him."

Berry's pitching was more than enough to get the Studs off to a fast start this year, and the club is halfway to a berth in the playoffs. Since this year's tournament is an eight-team affair featuring two four-team pools, a squad only needs to win twice to qualify for the playoff round.

The Studs are coming off winning the Canada Day Blast in Kelowna on the weekend, a tournament they started with a loss. But they came back to win their final five games by a combined score of 37-6.

Still, Seattle felt it needed a victory in Thursday's opener.

"It's huge for a team like us," said Berry, the oldest player on the Studs roster, at 29. "We feed off early hits and early wins and early success."

Seattle's defence had the early success, as outfielders Jett Hart and Dan Ward made back-to-back diving catches to end the top half of the first inning.

Danny Corrigan brought home Derek Jennings with a single to open the scoring in the bottom of the first, before the Studs broke it open with four runs in the second.

Hart keyed the rally with a two-run double down the right-field line, and Jennings and Brady Steiger also hit RBI singles in the inning.

"Our offence was strong early," Aden said. "We kind of settled in in the middle innings, went down soft 1-2-3 a couple of innings there, but (today) we'll try to add on."

Sal Arena drove in the game's last run, in the fifth inning.

The Tigers started a lineup heavy on left-handed bats, with lefties in the 3, 4, 5 and 6 holes.

That worked out really well for Berry, a 6-foot-2 lefty who runs Club Nine Baseball, a year-round academy in Everett.

"It was a great matchup for me," said Berry, who picked up his first victory in three tries at KIBT. "I can go off-speed a lot more with the lefties, and I don't have to really dominate with the fastball like I normally try to with the righties."

EXTRA INNINGS: The Studs played six games in four days last weekend, took Monday off and played again Tuesday, before coming to Kamloops. . . . There were around 150 people at the game, which started under threatening clouds but ended under sunny skies. . . . Matt Rindero pitched six innings in the loss, striking out two and giving up five earned runs. . . . The Tigers made the lone error in a game that took less than two hours to play. . . . St. Albert is scheduled to take on the Everett Merchants today at 9 a.m., and the Kelowna Jays on Saturday at 11:45 a.m. . . . Tournament standings and a schedule are in Scoreboard.

mhunter@kamloopsnews.ca