By Michael Rich
Nick Moser wreaked havoc on the base paths with eight steals in Big Walnut’s season-opening sweep of Cardington in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon in Sunbury.
“He’s a game-changer,” Golden Eagles coach Chris Holly said. “We get him on the bases, the pitchers start to worry about him and he gets in their head.”
“It’s nice when you can get that many for your team — it boosts your confidence,” Moser said.
Moser also scored five runs and drove in three more in the double-dip.
With the team prepping for its trip to Florida, starters Austin Becker and Tommy Fleser didn’t go deep in either game.
Noah Sprowls relieved Becker in the first game, a 9-3 win for the Eagles. He allowed a run over five innings with four strikeouts on three hits and a walk.
“He came in, threw strikes and was able to finish the game with his pitch count down,” Holly said.
Jacob Young tossed the final three innings of an 11-1 win in the second game in relief of Fleser. Young retired 10 of the 11 batters he faced with one walk.
“Young came in and threw strikes and had his pitches moving,” Holly said.
BW put up 10 runs over the final three frames of game two to break a 1-1 tie. Andrew Klamfoth and Young each had run-scoring singles in a four-run fourth to break the tie. Young drove in three runs in the game.
“We had a good bunt by (Nick) Dimitroff and a couple of hits, and they made a couple of errors and we capitalized on it,” Holly said.
Parker Imertreijs lined a two-run double to deep center as part of a four-run sixth to break it open.
The Eagles had 10 stolen bases in the 9-3 opener. Conner Gerren had three out of the nine-hole.
Nick Green and Henry von Hollen each drove in a pair of runs in the opener.
The Eagles travel down south for spring break before returning to play at Olentangy April 4 to open OCC-Capital action.
Also: Orange 10, Portsmouth 1; Orange 13, Portsmouth 1, 6 innings.
BOYS LACROSSE
The Olentangy Liberty boys lacrosse team got its season off to a solid start, racing out to an 8-3 halftime lead on the way to a solid 14-7 season-opening win over visiting Medina Saturday in Powell.
Eric NeCamp led what was a balanced Patriot attack, scoring four goals in the win. Other standouts included Ethan Garland and Johnny Wiseman, who each finished with hat tricks; Ashton Flack, who had a pair of goals in the win; and the duo of Grant Uehlein and Alex Lando, who finished with a goal apiece.
Thomas Fitzgerald and Cameron Finley split time in the Liberty goal, combining for seven saves.
The Patriots return to action Wednesday against host Dublin Coffman. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
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Follow Michael Rich on Twitter @mrichdelgazette.
