Burlington Central rolls by St. Edward for 21st win

Even the wind howling straight in from center field couldn't slow down Burlington Central's offense Friday afternoon.

The Rockets rapped out 12 hits and took advantage of some wildness by St. Edward's pitchers for a 14-5 nonconference baseball victory on breezier-than-usual Rocket Hill.

Sam Klein and Tanner Scott each drove in 3 runs for the Rockets while Luke Fleming picked up the win in relief.

Austin Jarvis had a pair of RBI doubles, and Klein, Scott, Jeff Ehlers and Ray Hunnicutt each had 2 hits for Central. Hunnicutt stole 3 bases and scored 3 times.

"When you've got the wind blowing this hard, you're not going to go out and hit home runs," said Central coach Kyle Nelson. "So it's good we had to do some other things and find another way to win."

"They're tough outs," said St. Edward coach Gene Belmonte of the Rockets. "They have a very good approach in their hitting. Everything we seemed to throw away from them, they would go with pitches and hit it to right field."

The wind made playing the outfield an adventure, but Hunnicutt handled things well in left field.

"The wind was blowing all over," he said. "If it looked like it was going to center it would come to me. It was hard to judge, but I tried my best."

Luke Duffy, Derek Porto and Jordan Torres each had 2 of the Green Wave's 8 hits.

Central (21-1) took the lead in the first with RBI doubles by Scott and Jarvis. They added 4 in the second on just 1 hit. Klein's bases-loaded walk, Scott's sacrifice fly, and a wild pitch accounted for 3 runs.

The Green Wave got back in the game with 3 runs in the third. Jon Godfrey's infield out and Zach Von Ahnen's double scored 2 runs.

The teams traded runs in the fourth before the Rockets broke the game open in the late innings. They scored 4 in the fifth and 3 more in the sixth, getting 4 hits in each inning. Hunnicutt's 2-run hit was the key to the fifth-inning rally.

Given the conditions, there weren't a lot of defensive highlights, but Drew Stover made the play of the game, diving for a ground ball headed up the middle, then throwing the runner out from his knees.