Baseball
By: Steve Feitl
The 2002 baseball season got off to a good start for the Lawrence High School Cardinals.
Lawrence held on to a 6-4 victory at Ewing on Monday to start the season with a 1-0 mark. The Cardinals were 9-15 last year and 8-11 in the Colonial Valley Conference.
The Cardinals got all their scoring early on in the contest. John Haggerty and Mike Bruschini hit back-to-back triples to lead off the game. After a Matt Noble fielder’s choice brought the second run home, Mike Cacciabaudo and Brian Bunn knocked in two more runs to give Lawrence a commanding 4-0 lead after one inning.
Haggerty and Bruschini struck again in the second with two more RBIs to give the Cardinals the 6-0 lead after two.
But that was all the scoring that Lawrence would muster and Ewing was far from done.
Ewing got to Cardinal starter Kevin Schneider in the third inning, plating three runs to narrow the lead to 6-3.
Then in the very next inning, Ewing threatened again. Ewing starter Craig Benner helped his own cause, knocking in a fourth run.
Eventually, Ewing loaded up the bases with just one away in the fourth. Schneider stiffened however, earning a strike out and fielder’s choice to escape the inning with the two-run lead intact.
After that, Noble came in for a strong three-inning relief effort. He allowed just one hit, while walking one and striking out five.