Carson Leasure scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning, breaking a 6-6 tie and giving the Big Walnut baseball team a late lead it parlayed into an 8-7 non-league win over visiting Buckeye Valley Friday night in Sunbury.
Drew Gaskins scored on a single by Cam Drake one batter later to give the Golden Eagles (2-1) what turned out to be a huge insurance run.
The Barons (2-1), who suffered their first setback of the young season, got one back in the seventh when Zach Church scampered home on a sacrifice fly by Cole Raile after the first two batters of the inning reached safely, but Ethan Benjamin retired the next two to seal the deal and strand the potential game-tying run at third.
BV had taken a 6-4 lead in the fifth when Raile ripped a two-out, two-run homer over the left field fence.
The blast was the third of the day for the teams, which used hot bats to counter the cooler temperatures. They combined for 15 runs and 17 hits when all was said and done.
Gianni Passarelli set the tone with a two-run bomb two batters into the game. The Ohio State commit finished 2-for-2 with two runs, two RBI and two walks to lead Buckeye Valley.
The Barons bumped the lead to 3-0 on an RBI single by Owen Osborne in the third, but the Eagles used a four-run bottom half — a trip to the plate punctuated by a three-run homer off the bat of Colin Pierce — to jump on top before Raile’s home run put BV back in front.
Camden Gladden, Drake and Pierce all finished with two hits in the win while Mahlon Spangler picked up the win thanks to 1.2 steady innings of relief.
Osborne matched Passarelli with two hits and Raile had a team-best three RBI for the Barons.
Olentangy Orange 15, Worthington Kilbourne 2, 5 inn.
Logan Shearer finished with a game-high three RBI and Caden Konczak, Josh Laisure, Cole Cahill and Connor Till collected two hits apiece to lead the Pioneers to a lopsided win over the host Wolves Friday night.
Orange (4-0) put the game away early, getting five runs in the first inning and four more in the second to jump out to an early 9-0 lead.
The Pioneers added five more in the fourth and another in the fifth to smooth out the scoring summary.
Laisure was solid on the mound, allowing an unearned run on one hit while striking out seven and walking one in three innings of action.
Olentangy Liberty 5, Westerville Central 4, 8 inn.
The Patriots finished with a flourish, matching the Warhawks’ two-run seventh with two runs in the bottom half to send the game into extras before Brock Amelung doubled home Joey Dierker with the game-winning run in the eighth Friday night in Powell.
Adam Lane led Liberty (4-1) with two hits and two RBI while Amelung picked up the win on the mound, tossing a hitless inning of relief.
Dublin Coffman 4, Olentangy 3
Nathan Kassis doubled home Ryan Cramer with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to lift the host Shamrocks to a walk-off win over the visiting Braves Friday night in Dublin.
Olentangy (2-2) led 3-0 after plating single tallies in each of the first three innings before Coffman plated two in the fifth, another in the sixth and the game-winner in the seventh.
Austin Sizemore led the Braves with a pair of hits and an RBI while Carter Williamson was pegged with the loss despite not allowing an earned run in 2.1 innings of relief.
SOFTBALL
Allie Motyka walked with two out in the bottom of the eighth to force in the game-winning run and lift host Olentangy Liberty to a thrilling 17-16 extra-inning win over visiting New Albany Friday night in Powell.
Dani Schoenly started the inning with a double. Ashley Chevalier and Lindsey Leeds worked back-to-back walks to load the bases and, after a pair of groundouts kept the runners where they were, Motyka’s walk finally ended the slugfest.
Brooke Aberle finished a perfect 5-for-5 with five runs from the leadoff spot, Schoenly had four hits, four runs and five RBI and Leeds had four hits of her own to lead Liberty.
Logan Riley, one of six Eagles with at least three hits, had a homer while Sophia Halliday finished with three hits and five RBI in the setback.
BOYS LACROSSE
Gavin Angell and Zach Zielinski finished with three goals and an assist apiece to lead Olentangy Berlin to a 15-1 win over visiting Hilliard Bradley Friday night in Delaware.
Drew Haver, Zach Rainey, and Jon Garn chipped in two goals each while Sam Warner had three saves in the win.
Also: Olentangy Orange 15, Westerville Central 10.
