The Olentangy baseball team fell into an early hole it couldn’t climb out of as visiting Dublin Jerome rolled to a 12-3 OCC-Cardinal Division win Thursday night in Lewis Center.

The Braves (4-8) answered two Celtic runs with one of their own in the bottom of the first inning, slicing the deficit in half with back-to-back hits from Andrew O’Rielley and Rocco Bucci — a single and RBI double, respectively — but things snowballed from there.

Jerome scored six more runs in the second, forcing Olentangy to go to the bullpen.

Owen Andel calmed things down a bit, allowing a couple runs on four hits while striking out three and walking one in 2.2 innings of relief, but the Braves never got much closer.

Jerome scored two in the fourth to take a 10-1 edge before adding another pair in the seventh. Olentangy got single tallies in the fifth and seventh to smooth out the scoring summary.

Carter Hire led the Braves, finishing 2-for-4 with two RBI.

Delaware Hayes 11, Worthington Kilbourne 1, 6 inn.

The Pacers picked up their second straight win over the Wolves, using a five-run fifth to break things open in Thursday’s OCC-Capital Division showdown in Delaware.

Already up 4-1, with two on and nobody out in the fifth, Tank Tompkins roped a two-run double to left. An out later, James Bowman connected on a RBI single and, an out after that, Eyan Teegardin came up with a clutch two-out, two-run single to all but seal the deal.

Colin Milligan, Tompkins and Teegardin each had two hits and two RBI to lead the Pacers (5-5) at the plate.

Tompkins was tough on the mound, too, allowing a run on two hits while striking out nine and walking just two.

Olentangy Orange 11, Hilliard Bradley 6

The Pioneers stayed perfect in league play and improved to 12-1 overall with Thursday’s OCC-Central Division win over the host Jaguars.

Orange used a four-run third to break things open.

Bradley didn’t go away, scoring a run in the fifth and three more in the sixth, but a four-run seventh helped the defending Division I state runner-ups put the finishing touches on the win.

Wyatt Lidke and Keegan Knupp led the Pioneers at the dish, finishing with three RBI apiece. Zane Konczak had a hit and two RBI.

Olentangy Berlin 1, Marysville 0

The Bears scored the only run they’d need in the top of the first and Taylor Bednar took care of the rest, striking out 12 Monarchs en route to tossing a three-hit shutout.

Berlin (11-2) got its run when Daniel Barreca, who singled to start the game, scored on a wild pitch with two down.

The Bears only managed two hits the rest of the way as the teams combined for six, but Bednar was so good they didn’t need them.