BUTLER, Pa. (D9Sports) — Evan Stitt’s bat and Holden Martin’s arm helped lead Karns City to a season-opening 7-1 victory over visiting Brookville at Kelly Automotive Park in Butler Thursday.
Stitt was 3-for-3 with double, two runs scored and two RBI’s, while Martin threw a strong five innings allowing just one unearned run on three hits and a walk while striking out six.
Watch Stitt and Martin talk about the victory.
A pair of three-run innings helped Karns City secure the win.
The Gremlins broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run third that featured an RBI single by Stitt and a two-run single up the middle by freshman Nolan Riley, who was 1-for-1 with three RBIs in his high-school debut.
“Watching him in the preseason, the bat was very live,” Karns City manager Randy Collins said. “He understands baseball. He is very smart in that aspect. He knows he can put the ball in play and do what he needs to do. He doesn’t need to have that big hit every time, but he is capable of having that too.”
Watch Riley’s two-run single
Karns City then broke the game wide open in the fifth scoring a pair of runs on wild pitches by Brookville’s Jordan Tosh and a third on a sacrifice fly by Riley.
Stitt, who drove in Karns City’s first run with a single in the first, was in the middle of the fifth-inning rally as well with a single that put runners on first and second with one out.
“Evan’s one of those guys who is more soft spoken,” Collins said. But he gets the job done.”
The seven runs were more than enough for Martin, who was dealing retiring 10 of 11 Raiders at one point.
“That performance was stellar tonight,” Collins said. “He relied a lot on the fastball in the beginning but started throwing the curveball in the later innings. He looked good.
“You could tell at the end he was getting a little bit tired, which you expected. I let him go that one extra inning to give him that opportunity to keep that arm conditioning going.”
Brookville actually grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Logan Thrush scored on the backend of a delayed steal that was aided greatly by a wild throw to second by Karns City catcher Cullen Williams.
But the Gremlins answered in the bottom of the inning when Stitt drove home Jimmy Thompson with a single to right. Thompson had started the inning with a single to center before stealing second.
That was part of a solid night for Thompson, who was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored and two stolen bases out of the leadoff spot.
Watch Thompson single in the third
KARNS CITY 7, BROOKVILLE 1
Score by innings
Brookville 100 000 0 — 1
Karns City 103 030 — 7
Brookville — 1
Jordan Tosh ss/p 2000, Logan Thrush cf 3120, Kyle Dunkle c 3000, Ben Caun rf 3000, Trenton Gilhousen rf 0000, Ben Reitz p/ss/3b 3000, Espy Reinard 1b 2000, Tanner LaBenne 1b 1000, Austin Cook lf 3010, Nick Keth 2b 2000, Brady Caylor 1000, Dane Lyne 3b 2000, Wyatt Shaffer p 0000. Totals 25-1-3-0.
Karns City — 7
Jimmy Thompson cf 3220, Seth Silverio ph/cf 1000, Holden Martin p/ss 2210, Tyler Yough ph/2b 1000, Evan Stitt ss/2b 3232, Cullen Williams c 2100, Nolan Riley 1b 1013, Marcus Lantz 2b/3b 3010, Eric Dodd 3b/p 3000, Hunter Schaffner lf 2000, Jace Ebbitt ph/lf 1000, Jared Stewart rf 2000, Colton Hutchison ph/rf 1010. Totals 25-7-9-5.
LOB — Brookville 4. Karns City 4. 2B — Thrush. Stitt. SB — Caun. Thompson (2) E — Tosh. Williams, Schaffner SF — Riley. HBP — Williams by Tosh.
PITCHING
Brookville — Reitz 3 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K. Tosh 2 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 K. Shaffer 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K.
Karns City — Martin 5 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K. Dodd 2 IP, 0R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.
Winning pitcher: Martin
Losing pitcher: Reitz
