LANCASTER — Lancaster baseball coach Corey Conn couldn’t have drawn it up any better.
The Golden Gales opened the season with a 4-0 win over visiting Fairfield Union on March 27, and came right back on Saturday, March 28, and had an even more impressive victory by dominating Licking Heights, 18-0 at England Field.
Lancaster received outstanding pitching in both games from Carson Miller and Brody Broeckel, the defense was outstanding in both games, and the offense got untracked against the visiting Hornets on Saturday.
“It’s always good to start the season off this way,” Conn said. “These guys have put in a lot of work in the offseason, and to see it pay off here at the start of the season, it’s good to see. They have worked extremely hard for the reward, which is the games. Two games in, they have handled their business.”
Lancaster took advantage of every scoring opportunity it had against Licking Heights. The Gales finished with 10 hits, had six batters hit by pitches, and executed their bunt game to perfection.
“We had good quality at bats and didn’t make it easy on the pitchers, and even when we got down in the count, we kept battling,” Conn said. “Regardless of the score, you have a job to do, and your job is to go up there and be locked in, and we did that.”
Against the Hornets, the Gales scored two runs in the first, three in the second, seven in the third and six in the fourth.
Kam Griffith led the way by going 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Levi Greiner had two hits and four RBIs, Ben Thimmes had two hits, including a double, and Coleson Ross had three RBIs and scored three runs. Jack Pompey, who was hit twice by pitches, had a hit, two RBIs, and scored three runs. Broeckel had a hit, an RBI, and scored three times, while Brayden Montgomery and Cale Meyer added one hit each.
As far as pitching, Broeckel fired a two-hit shutout on 56 pitches. He had four strikeouts and didn’t walk a batter.
Against the Falcons on Friday, Carson Miller was just as efficient as he tossed a three-hitter in seven innings of work and finished with nine strikeouts.
“Brody and Carson were unbelievably effective,” Conn said. “They were commanding the zone, were efficient, and they were able to throw any pitch in any count to keep the hitters off balance, and our defense made some good plays for them. They both filled it up with quality pitches.”
Montgomery and Broeckel had two hits each against the Falcons, and Thimmes had two RBIs.
Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on X at twil2323.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Lancaster baseball opens season with two dominant wins
Reporting by Tom Wilson, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette / Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
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