Two outs hung on the scoreboard, and with the growing sense of needing to get the offense moving, Brandon Firman did just that in the bottom of the fourth inning for the John Stark baseball team.
Firman, a senior outfielder, blasted the ball deep into right field and made it to third base. Deltyn Williams sent Firman home courtesy of a single, and another single by Chase Philibotte gave the Generals two on base with a big bat eyeing the plate.
Hayden Nunley seized the moment and, on the third pitch, smacked the ball deep in the outfield as the John Stark rally continued in its season opener, a 6-2 win against Stevens on Thursday.
The utility sophomore’s two-run RBI double extended the Generals’ fourth-inning performance, with an RBI double from Jason Crean stretching their lead to 4-1.
Up until those sequences, John Stark was in a frustrating position offensively. Its batters were making clean contact and the trajectories were testing the Cardinals’ outfield with mid- to-high-rising pop flies, but the catches were made and the bases remained mostly empty in the early goings of the game.
On top of the minor offensive woes, a pair of fielding errors in the top of the second led to an early Stevens run in what could have been the game’s deciding run, based off the initial difficulties by the Generals.
“We’re going to have those growing pains, but we’re going to learn,” coach Dennis Pelletier said. “Those (errors) are the types of things that we’re going to learn from.”
John Stark, the reigning Division II state champions, graduated a good portion of its core players last season, including a majority of its infielders, but those taking the field this season have plenty of talent. It shone brightly on an overcast afternoon.
Second baseman Crean led the way, continually making good throws and fielding tough ground balls. Sophomore pitcher Anthony Paolicelli (4 IP, 6 strikeouts, 2 walks) threw his way out of jams and, after giving up his seventh hit, Philibotte stepped in as relief and tossed three strikeouts in three innings to earn the save.
In a final push to get back into the game, Stevens scored in the top of the sixth after another error by the Generals to bump the game to 4-2 with only a single out on the board. Two walks had the bases loaded, but a fly out in center field and force out at third prevented the Cardinals from capitalizing on their baserunners.
John Stark tacked on two insurance runs in the sixth to extend its lead for the eventual deciding score.
The Generals (1-0) don’t take the field again until Monday, when they host Kingswood on an expected 4 p.m. first pitch.