Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Zach Leibfried throws to first to complete a double play during their game against Hadley on Thursday. Marshall defeated Hadley 10-0 in five innings.

MARSHALL — Led by a strong pitching performance by Ashton Rowe and Tyler Maeyaert and a key offensive inning, the Marshall 15U Orange baseball team quickly took care of Hadley with a 10-0 victory in five innings on Thursday at Legion Field.

Marshall co-manager Thomas Fischer said he was pleased with their ability to stay patient at the plate as well as take control on the mound.

“Our guys were super patient at the plate, we didn’t swing at anything out of the zone so then the ones we were swinging at, we were able to hit really well,” Fischer said. “And then our pitching, Ashton threw an awesome game and then Tyler came in and closed the door in that fifth inning.”

Rowe finished his night with only two hits allowed in four innings of work while striking out five. Fischer said Rowe did a great job of taking command of the zone right away and getting ahead in the count.

“Ashton just commanded the zone and did an awesome job,” Fischer said. “The only time he really ever wasted pitches was if he was way ahead in the count, so he attacked the zone all night and guys made plays behind him.”

Marshall 15U was able to get out to an early lead, using a sacrifice fly from Lincoln Graven to take a 1-0 advantage in the second. An inning later, Marshall’s bats really came alive, as Gavin Peterson drew a one-out walk before Joey Fossum connected on an RBI double. After a single by Rowe and a walk by Jon Gruhot loaded the bases, Andrew Wallen smacked an RBI single to make it 3-0.

Marshall wasn’t done there, with Maeyaert getting aboard with a walk to plate another run before Zach Leibfried reached on a fielder’s choice to make it 5-0. After Ezra Maurice connected on an RBI single, Brayden Wixon lined a single to right that added two more runs to push Marshall’s lead to 8-0 after three.

Marshall then added runs in the next two frames, getting one in the fourth on a wild pitch before Peterson reached on an error with the bases loaded in the fifth to bring it to the 10-0 final.

Maurice led the way for Marshall with three hits and an RBI while Fossum added two hits and an RBI and Wallen and Wixon each had a hit and combined for three RBI.

Fischer said their key offensively, especially in the third inning, was working the counts and forcing the pitcher to throw it in the zone where they could get the ball in play.

“We were taking pitches that weren’t in the zone and getting ahead in the counts, and then we were able to find ways to hit the ball because we knew the pitcher would have to throw it in the zone to avoid a walk and our guys were ready,” Fischer said.

Up next

Marshall will face Worthington on Monday at 6:30 p.m. Fischer said their biggest takeaway will be continuing to use the momentum they’ve gained heading into their next stretch of games.

“The game before this we struggled to get guys on base and to score runs, so we did a better job of doing that here and hopefully we can continue to do that in our next game,” Fischer said.