SHINGLEHOUSE — The Bradford offense struck early and struck often as the Owls baseball team soared to a 26-1 victory over a struggling Oswayo Valley team on Wednesday afternoon.
Bradford (3-4) jumped out to an 8-0 lead after the first inning and never looked back en route to a season-high run total. The Green Wave (0-5), meanwhile, struggled to generate any offense against a slew of Bradford pitchers.
“Offensively, we clearly hit the ball, but we also drove the ball in the right spots,” said Bradford head coach Andy Carlson. “We took good at-bats and hit the ball to right-center field, which is where we need to be.”
The Owls jumped on OV starting pitcher Gunner Bean quickly in the first inning, as an RBI double from Caleb Nuzzo and three consecutive RBI singles from Greg Frederick, Austen Davis and Isaac Smith put the Owls up 4-0 with no outs. Bradford tacked on four more runs in the inning for the 8-0 lead.
In the bottom of the frame, starting pitcher Peyton Manion earned a quick out before walking a pair of Green Wave batters to put himself into a bit of a jam. Undaunted, though, Manion grounded OV cleanup hitter Sawyer Prince into a double play to end the inning — his only inning of work on the day.
“Peyton struggled a little bit with his command, but he hadn’t played or pitched in a while,” Carlson said. “He battles, and he typically throws strikes. He gives us a chance to win games, and that’s what we expect from him.”
In the top of the second, RBI singles from Michael Gow and Nuzzo and a two-RBI double from Manion extended the Owl lead to 12-0.
Gow then came on in relief in the bottom of the inning, and overcame a pair of fielding errors by his teammates to hold OV scoreless through the second. He fanned two batter in the frame.
“Michael is one of our guys… He’s part of the solution to us getting better,” Carlson said.
It seemed the Green Wave was potentially going to stop the hemorrhaging in the top of the third, as OV recorded two outs with no runs scored.
But then Bradford went on an onslaught to the tune of 14 runs to push the lead to 26-0, thanks in large part to three errors and six walks mixed in with five Bradford hits, all with two outs. Manion led the Owl charge with six RBI, while Nuzzo and Patrick Caskey each had three RBI on the day.
Frederick, Davis, Smith, Knowlton, Ruolo, Gow, Jason French, Noah Meyer and Blake Taylor tacked on one RBI each.
“It was all the way through the order today,” Carlson said of his team’s offensive performance, and added that Gow, Steve Knowlton and Nolan Ruolo earned their first varsity hits during the game.
The lone run for Oswayo Valley came in the bottom of the third. Colton Gietler singled to lead things off, and then stole second and third. A throwing error on Gietler’s steal of third allowed him to advance home.
The Green Wave is off until April 23, when the team travels to Smethport, which stands at 3-3 on the season.
Bradford plays host to the 1-4 Kane Wolves today.
“We expect that if we come in, take good at-bats and play the game right, we’ll have a chance to win,” Carlson said. “We just have to show up.”
First pitch is set for 4:15 p.m. at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.
