The Sabres weren't exactly looking for love or kicking cobblestones Monday night, but they were definitely having fun in a 15-6 trouncing of Area I, Western Division rival Benson Post 109.

And it's a feeling that Sabes coach Vic Bird wants to last more than the morning - he wants it to extend straight through the state playoffs in August.

"We are definitely in a groove right now," Bird said after his team's second straight win and third in its last four games to improve to 8-4 overall and 7-3 in the Western Division.

The win enables the Sabres, who began a regular-season stretch run of seven games in as many days, to keep pace with division front-runners Durham Post 7 and Cary Post 67.

The Sabres, currently in third place in the division, have their post-season playoff berth in their own hands, as they face Durham once and Cary twice down the stretch.

"We started out the season strong, winning our first three games," Bird said. "Then we won one and lost one for a while - but now, we're definitely in a rhythm."

Particularly in a rhythm for the Sabres is Jeffrey Joyner, who had a field day against Benson's starting pitcher Josh Elmore, smashing two homers and a double while driving in six runs in a 4-for-4 night at the plate.

Joyner, with three homers in the last two games, jump-started the Sabres’ offense with a one-out, two-run blast in the first inning for a 2-0 lead. He continued his personal onslaught in the second with a two-run double , later scoring on a two-run single by Josh Holloman.

Joyner upped the Sabres lead to 7-0 in the fourth inning with a solo shot to left that hit the yellow tubing on top of the fence, shot straight into the air and fell over.

His RBI parade ended in the fifth with a sacrifice fly, and picked up his final hit, a two-out single in the seventh before leaving the game with stomach cramps. But before he left, Joyner had definitely put a cramp in Benson's hopes.

"He had a great day," Bird said. "Jeffrey was seeing the ball real well tonight, and has been seeing real well lately - he's become a complete hitter for us this season."

But Joyner had help offensively, as five other players had multiple-hit games for the Sabres: Ryan Daughtry (2-for-3), Boomer Noteboom (2-for-4), Drew Alford (3-for-6), Alex Hadding (2-for-3) and Ryan Eason (2-for-6).

Benson, despite finding itself on the verge of being mercy-ruled twice after the fifth inning, never quit, and battled back with three-run rallies in the sixth and eight innings off Sabres reliever Doug Furlong, combining walks and errors to rebound from deficits of 9-0 and 12-3.

In the sixth inning, Andrew Carroll and Jay Cannon drew walks, coming around to score on a two-run single by Elmore, who moved to third on an error and scored on a grounder by Preston Major.

After the Sabres touched up Benson reliever Joe Henderson for three runs in the top of the eighth, Post 109 came right back with a single by Cannon, an error, a walk to Henderson and a two-run single by James Johnson to pull within 12-5.

Henderson scored on a wild pitch for the final Post 109 run.

However, Benson could not find an answer for Sabres starter Hadding, who hurled four innings, surrendering one hit and one walk in his first mound appearance since May. Furlong was also making his first appearance since May, as the Sabres began getting pitching arms ready for the divisional playoffs, scheduled to begin next week.

"Alex had a great game," Bird said. "But he was getting up on his pitch count, or we would have left him in longer. I wish we could have at least given him fie innings and the win.

"Doug also had a great game, even though he hadn't been on the hill in a long time."