Matt Steiner crafted a complete-game gem, beating the Eastbrook Panthers 8-3 as South Adams played a clean game with no errors and scored eight runs despite having just five singles in the contest.
The Starfires jumped on Cooper Craw early, scoring three times in the bottom of the first after Steiner worked around a bases-loaded jam in the top of the inning.
Kyle Minger singled and Owen Wanner dropped a bunt single, giving Caleb Hirschfeld the opportunity to sacrifice both of them over for Luke Bauman, who only needed a fly ball to drive in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly.
After Craw hit Corey Lenington with a pitch, Steiner helped his own cause with a big two-run, two-out single to right.
Craw only allowed two more hits in the final five innings, but Steiner was dealing.
Eastbrook put two hits together in the second and got on the board, but they didn’t score again until the fifth inning when they cut the lead to one run at 4-3 with a two-run single by Craw.
The Starfires had the top of the order up to lead off the fifth and loaded the bases with one out when Bauman was hit by a pitch. A walk and a sacrifice bunt plated two more runs for the Stars but it was the third error of the game for the Panthers on a ground ball to short that put the game out of reach.
Steiner had three of the Stars’ six RBI, while Lenington and Minger each scored twice.Â
The win moved the Stars to 15-10 on the season with a doubleheader Saturday against Northeastern and a showdown at Bellmont Monday left in the regular season.
South Adams and Eastbrook will meet again in the first round of sectional Wednesday at Blackford.