Valley Sports ReportMOOSIC, Pa. — Junior Nick Grazul mowed down Towanda batters in six innings of two-hit ball to lead unbeaten Athens to a 7-0 win over Towanda here Sunday evening in NTL baseball action at PNC Field.
"(Nick) Grazul was absolutely dominant," said Athens coach Charlie Havens. "After the first inning, he just pounded the zone — 13 Ks is just impressive.
"We actually played an excellent game," added Havens. "We were error-free with 11 hits."
The game was played on the home field of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders — the triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.
"It's odd for me, but not a single complaint," said Havens. "It's a really cool experience getting these kids to play at a triple-A facility.
"The RailRiders do an amazing job taking care of the boys," he added.
Grazul, who gave up singles in the fourth and fifth innings, fanned 13 and walked just one — the first batter of the game.
Sophomore Duncan Thetga struck out the side in order in the seventh to close out the win.
After leaving runners on base in the first two innings, Athens got on the board in the bottom of the third inning.
Senior Noah Hobday led off the inning with a single, but was caught stealing, and Grazul followed with a walk.
After a balk moved Grazul, he took third on a groundout.
With two outs, sophomore Brendan Cooke worked a walk, and sophomore Brady Flynn, senior Dylan Saxon, and junior Eli Hobday followed with back-to-back-to-back RBI singles to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
Athens tacked on a run on a sacrifice fly by Saxon in the fifth inning to make it 4-0.
Run-scoring singles by Thetga, sophomore Connor Davidson, and Cooke in the sixth inning extended the lead to 7-0.
Cooke singled twice, scored two runs, and drove in one run, while Eli Hobday singled twice and knocked in one run, and Grazul doubled and singled, and scored two runs.
Flynn and Thetga each singled, scored one run, and drove in one run for the Wildcats, while Saxon singled and had two RBI, Davidson singled and drove in one run, Noah Hobday added a single, and junior Eli Chapman crossed the plate once.
Athens, now 7-0, returns to action Tuesday at Towanda.
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IN PHOTO: Athens junior Nick Grazul.
