WEIRTON – Pitchers need to throw strikes and the defense needs to make the routine plays.

The Catholic Central baseball team struggled in those two departments against Madonna, and the Blue Dons made them pay. The Crusaders walked 13 batters, threw multiple wild pitches, hit one batter and committed eight errors and the Blue Dons capitalized en route to a 13-3 victory by the run rule in five innings Monday evening at Bowman Field.

“Absolutely, we took advantage of what they gave us,” Madonna (5-3) head coach TJ Miller said. “We knew coming in they were a very young team. We are a young team, and we’re both trying to find our groove. We battled. We took advantage of what they gave us. We were aggressive on the bases. Our pitchers threw strikes. We capitalized on their mistakes. Things worked out in our favor today.”

The visitors outhit the hosts, 9-6, but the Crusaders made too many mistakes.

“We made too many mistakes to stay in the game,” first-year Catholic Central (1-5) head coach Andrew Henry said. “We hit the ball. We put pressure on them. We have to keep going. We have to do the little things. We have to throw strikes, and we have to play solid defense.”

The boys from Hancock County plated at least one run in four innings, and they scored three or more runs three times, including in the bottom of the fifth inning to bring to game to an early end.

“The biggest things for us right now are our plate approach and our mindset,” Miller said. “We have talked about those things the last few weeks. We have been working on our approach. We have been working on our approach in various counts and what to look for. We did a better job of that today, and that is a testament to our guys. We are trying to fix our strikeouts looking. We did a better job of that today. We had a better approach at the plate.”

Both teams used two pitchers in the game.

Reno Fuscardo started on the mound for Madonna, and he pitched the first two innings earning a no-decision for his efforts. He struck out one without walking a batter in his two innings of work. He left the mound with his team out in front, 4-0, going into the third.

Sam Brooks came on to pitch in the third, and the senior was credited with the win. Brooks struck out four while walking one in his three innings of relief work.

Jojo Corabi started on the mound for Catholic Central, and he took the loss. Corabi struck out three while walking five in his 2 2/3 innings of work. He was replaced with two outs in the third by Tommy Symington, who pitched the final two innings. Symington struck out one, walked eight and one batter in his two innings on the mound.

Catholic Central got a runner on base with two outs in the first, but Central was unable to get him home.

The Dons plated three runs in the home half of the inning to take the early lead. Fuscardo and Jacob Lazear drew back-to-back walks to start the inning and Brooks reached on an error to load the bases. Then, Evan Kaczmarek drew a walk to score Fuscardo to give the home team an early 1-0 lead. After a strikeout, Luke Wingett singled to left scoring Lazear to make the score, 2-0. Then after another strikeout, Tyler Dillon walked to bring home Brooks to extend Madonna’s advantage out to 3-0. A pop-up ended the inning in which Corabi threw 39 pitches.

The Blue-and-Gold had a golden opportunity to cunt into their deficit in the second. First, Symington and Luke Bryan tallied back-to-back base hits to put two runners on base before Joe Vranish reached on an error on a dropped flyball to load the bases with no outs, however, Fuscardo was able to bear down and retire the next three batters – on a strikeout and two pop-ups to escape the inning unscathed.

The victors increased their advantage in the bottom half of the inning.

Fuscardo led off the inning by reaching on a single to left before stealing second base to move himself into scoring position. Then, Lazear doubled to left to score Fuscardo to up Madonna’s advantage to 4-0. Corabi retired the next three batters to get out of the inning without any more damage being done.

The Crusaders battled back in the third.

Michael Fabbro and Matthew Jones started the inning with back-to-back singles, and Daevon Thorn came into run for Jones – the team’s catcher. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch before Corabi plated Fabbro with a sacrifice fly to center to cut Catholic Central’s deficit down to 4-1. Symington then singled home Thorn on a ball hit to left to make it a 4-2 ballgame. After a pop-up, Vranish singled and Kyran Busic singled to right to score Symington making it 4-3. The boys in blue had runners on the corners, however, Brooks recorded a strikeout to get out of the inning without giving up the lead.

“We had people on base,” Henry said. “Like the Pirates, we had traffic on the bases. Maybe we need to get a traffic cone. We put the ball in play. We just weren’t able to get that big hit.”

The Blue Dons tacked on five runs in the fifth to break the game open.

Wingett reached on an error to start the inning before Connor Lancaster laid down a sacrifice bunt, however, the threw to first was off target and Wingett raced home following another error to give Madonna a 5-3 lead. Lancaster then advanced from second to third on a groundout before coming home when Fuscardo reached on an error to make it a 6-3 ballgame. Fuscardo advanced to second on another error, Lazear walked and Brooks singled home Lazear and Fuscardo, who stole third, to make the score, 8-3. Brooks moved up to second and third on wild pitches before scoring when Kaczmarek reached on an error to up the score to 9-3. Maddox Bowen then drew a walk before a fielder’s choice ended the inning.

“This team is a much different team than last year’s team,” Miller said. “We have a young group. The few older guys we do have are great leaders. The coaching staff has done a lot more teaching of fundamentals. Our goal is to get better every day. We don’t want to make the same mistake twice. We want to keep getting better each and every day. The kids are buying in. Our goals have remained the same. We want to compete for an OVAC title and a state championship. We are taking it one step at a time. We want to get hot at the end of the season. The kids are working hard.”

Jones and Corabi collected back-to-back singles with two outs in the fourth, but the two teammates were stranded on third thanks to an inning-ending strikeout.

Madonna load the bases in its half of the fourth thanks to a trio of walks, however, a pop-up to center end the treat to keep the Blue Dons off the scoreboard for the only time in the game.

Vranish walked in the fifth to Catholic Central, but a strikeout ad groundout brought the inning to a close.

The Blue Dons needed four runs in fifth to bring the game to an early conclusion, and Madonna delivered.

After a strikeout, Bowen singled, stole second and moved to third on a passed ball before scoring on a single to center by Lancaster to make the score, 10-3. Dillon then drew a walk, and Wingett, who also walked, scored on a passed ball to make it 11-3. Fuscardo then hit a sacrifice fly to center to score scoring Lancaster to put the home team one run away from ending the game. Ultimately, the game ended after Lazear was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Brooks drew a bases-loaded walk to score Dillon to bring the game to an early end.

Catholic central is scheduled to play rival Toronto at 5 p.m. today at the Knights Baseball Complex.

“It’s another tough game,” Henry said. “We are going to throw Luke Bryan. He’s a freshman. He has thrown well for us. We are looking for him to throw strikes and to compete.”

Madonna is slated to play Monroe Central at 5:30 p.m. today at home. The Blue Dons defeated the Seminoles, 4-3, March 28 on the road.

“They are a very-good team,” Miller said. “We saw them earlier in the season. They have a nice lineup. We are going to have to be ready to play. We are going to have to bring our A-game.”

Madonna 13, Catholic Central 3

Catholic Central 003 00 – 3 9 8

Madonna 315 04 – 13 6 2

CATHOLIC CENTRAL (1-5): Corabi LP (2 2/3IP, 3K, 5BB), Symington (2IP, 1K, 8BB) and Jones. Fabbro S; Jones 2S; Corabi RBI; Symington 2S, RBI; L. Bryan S; Vranish S; Busic S, RBI.

MADONNA (5-3): Fuscardo ND (2IP, 1K, 0BB) and Brooks (3IP, 4K, 1BB) and Lancaster. Fuscardo S, RBI; Lazear D, RBI; Brooks S, 3RBI; Kaczmarek RBI; Bowen S; Wingett S, RBI; Lancaster S; Dillon RBI.