DANVILLE – North Montgomery won it on both sides of the game in a 10-0 Sagamore Conference win over Danville.
The Chargers, who move to 7-3 on the season, grab a share of the early conference lead with the win, and stand at 3-0, while the Warriors fall to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the Sagamore.
On the mound, Jarrod Kirsch scattered two hits in running his record to 3-0. The junior struck out 10, including the last five hitters he faced, and chalked up an Immaculate Inning in the seventh, with nine pitches, all ‘strikes, registering three strikeouts.
“I really felt it in the bullpen,” Kirsch said of the 92 pitch outing which allows enough rest for him to pitch against Southmont on Saturday. “When my teammates got the early lead, I knew I just had to go out and trust them and make my pitches. Dylan (Braun) is the guy I trust behind the plate as well. After that first inning, I felt really good, and I know that with our team playing as well as we are playing, we would have a good game. I just love to play, and especially with these guys. Tomorrow it’s just step on the pedal again and go after it.”
Kirsch took command after the Chargers offense put four on the board in the top of the first.
Kirsch himself started the attack with a lead-off single. Ross Dyson doubled and eventually scored, as did Corbin Meadows and courtesy runner Thomas Laffoon (running for Braun).
North got another run in the third and fifth and seventh, and three more in the sixth.
Cade Cole raised his batting average 63 points with a 3-for-3 game, driving in a run with singles to right, then left, then center.
“It was see the ball and lay off the curve and hit the gaps,” the sophomore said. “I was able to get my hands through on my swing, I saw the ball really well, and made good contact. It was fun to get Jarrad the early lead and he threw really well. This team is working together really well right now.”
Eight different Chargers scored once, while Kirsch and Meadows each came across twice. North had a dozen hits, chasing Warriors starting pitcher Will Woolsey after five innings. Woolsey falls to 0-2 on the season.
“Kirsch is one of the top three pitchers in the Sagamore,” seventh-year coach PT O’Neill said. “He throws strikes, and we found ourselves behind in a lot of counts. We didn’t attack his pitches enough. Woolsey pitched well after the shaky first, but North is a good team. They play hard, they play the right way. We got picked off a couple times and made a few other mistakes. It wasn’t Warrior baseball as we like to play it. The good thing about baseball is another chance tomorrow, and we will just have to battle back.”
Charger skipper Matt Voorhees loved the way his team was able to play a complete game.
“Those four runs in the first inning sends such a message,” Chargers coach Matt Voorhees said. “You jump on an opponent in the first, and it puts that early doubt in the opponent, and it so energizes and encourages your team. That lead gives Jarrod on the mound the okay to be aggressive and attack the zone. On top of that, he just doesn’t let things bother him. We had an error, and it didn’t get to him. Every pitch is a battle, we have to compete on every pitch. Don’t panic with two strikes when you are at the plate, don’t get upset with a mistake. This team has played together long enough that they know this. We moved a couple guys around in the lineup tonight and it paid dividends. We re-evaluate with every game, and it’s all about the team. This conference is so competitive that every pitch, every inning, every game has to be contested.”
The Sagamore foes will tangle again Wednesday at North.
