The Olentangy Orange baseball team fell into an early hole, but climbed out in a hurry on the way to a key 5-2 OCC-Central Division win over visiting Olentangy Liberty Friday night in Lewis Center.
The Patriots (14-4) broke the scoring seal with a pair of first-inning runs — Connor Bourn singled home Mason Onate and Brian Yamokoski came home on a balk — but that was the extent of the damage as Pioneer starter Josh Laisure and reliever Jacob Tabor held them to just two hits the rest of the way.
Orange (15-1), meanwhile, got the runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Caden Konczak singled to get things started, Matt Wolfe walked and, after Liberty’s Joe Tootle retired Laisure on a fielder’s choice and Cole Cahill on a pop out, Logan Shearer came up with a clutch two-out, two-run single to right to even things up.
The Pioneers were busy on the bases in the second, too, using a two-run single by Cahill to take the lead for good.
They added one more in the third, smoothing out the scoring summary when Connor Till scored on a passed ball.
The pitchers took over after that. Anderson Gomez, who tossed the final 4.1 innings for the Patriots, allowed a run on three hits. Laisure was just as sharp. He allowed the two runs on four hits while striking out 11 and walking just two. Tabor, finally, tossed a 1-2-3 seventh to cement the win.
Cahill and Shearer were both 1-for-2 with two RBI for Orange while Rocco Leonetti finished 2-for-3 with a double and Konczak had a hit and scored twice.
Onate, Dom Magistrale, Yamokoski and Bourn had the Patriots’ hits, with Bourn collecting their lone RBI.
Olentangy 10, Marysville 8
The Braves came alive late, scoring six runs in the sixth inning and two in the seventh to rally for a league win over the host Monarchs Friday night in Marysville.
Brandon Hire was dominant at the dish, finishing 4-for-5 with three doubles, three runs and two RBI. Other standouts included Austin Sizemore, who was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI; Grant Schaffner, who was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI of his own; and Brady Beaumont, who had a pair of hits in the win.
Buckeye Valley 15, Columbus Academy 4, 5 inn.
The Barons scored seven runs in the second to take an early 10-0 lead and only added to their advantage from there, dropping the visiting Vikings Friday night in Delaware.
Cole Raile led the way, finishing 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBI. Michael Franckhauser was steady as well, collecting two hits to go with two runs and three knocked in.
Westerville South 13, Delaware Hayes 0, 5 inn.
The Wildcats plated three runs in the first and rolled from there, cruising to a win over the visiting Pacers Friday night in Westerville.
They added five in the second, four more in the third and one in the fourth.
Hayes, meanwhile, managed just two hits in the setback — knocks by Nick Wildman and Austin Dowell.
Thomas Worthington 10, Olentangy Berlin 9
The Bears plated a pair of runs in the seventh to even things at nine, but the host Cardinals walked off in extras with a run in the eighth to escape with a league win Friday night in Worthington.
Mitch Herbst led Berlin with three RBI while Ryan Horstman knocked in two. Jake Kinkead had a team-best two hits while Matt Barreca scored twice.
