MORAVIA - On paper, the Jordan-Elbridge and Moravia baseball teams don't have a lot of similarities. They play in different sections, classes and they are coming off very different seasons. The Blue Devils made a lot of noise in Section IV, Class C last season, while the Section III, Class B Eagles struggled for most of the same time frame.

When they met at Ettinger Field on Tuesday, they were just two young teams eager to get a win. An intense pitching duel for the first half of the game, it was Jordan-Elbridge that was able to gather the hits needed for the much desired victory - their first one of the season, by a 5-0 score.

“We needed this,” Eagles coach Mike Osborn said. “We opened against Westhill and (Christian Brothers Academy), so I guess playing those two teams to lead off your season helped us here, because I think they're talented. We took that CBA loss hard, after the game we realized that we should have won, so I think we stepped it up today.”

Zach Frost led a Jordan-Elbridge (1-2) defensive effort that was impeccable - no errors, one hit allowed and 14 strikeouts.

Frost, a sophomore, hurled 12 strikeouts and contained a team that had belted out 10 hits in their previous game to just one.

Blue Devils leadoff batter Greg Pasho knocked a slow rolling bunt that allowed him to reach first in the fifth inning.

Frost bobbled the ball before sailing it to first baseman Christian Berwind, but it was scored a hit. Frost walked five more batters in his five innings on the mound to help his team strand seven Moravia baserunners on the day.

“This was the best game, by far, that I've ever seen him pitch - he was phenomenal,” Osborn said. “He threw a lot for us last year, but we've been working on him to throw strikes and he's settling in - he knows he can't get behind hitters and he knows that he can challenge them.”

As the leadoff batter for the Eagles, Frost didn't waste any time getting the team's first hit, with a single, and then a stolen base in the first inning. Jordan-Elbridge didn't turn any hits into runs until the sixth inning though, when they brought in all five.

Colby Auer scored Alex Fletcher with a sacrifice fly to A.J. Rouse in center field for run No. 1.

With two outs, Christian Berwind and Nick Berwind came in when Frost's line drive went through the legs of Moravia freshman shortstop Dillon Langtry.

“I told (Langtry), 'When you get into a situation like that, don't do anything different.' And he said to me, 'I just wanted to block it so bad,'” Moravia coach Rich Valentino said. “I told him when you say that to yourself, that you don't want the ball to get by you, the ball gets by you. He's just got to go out and play like he's done all year. That's a valuable lesson that he's got to learn and hopefully take with him over the next four years, because he's an incredible athlete.”

Eagles junior Teddy Hart brought in the final two runs on a single to right field. Jordan-Elbridge tallied seven hits, but No. 9 batter Jeff Donofrio, who also pitched the last two innings, was the only one to get multiple hits, with two.

“Jeff played a phenomenal game as well,” Osborn said. “He's got some great speed.”

One of Moravia's handful of seniors, Taylor Mackey, also threw a great game from the mound.

He lasted until after Langtry's error in the sixth - which was the team's second. Mackey threw seven strikeouts in his 5 2-3 of work and Jeremy Stewart closed the game with three more strikeouts.

“We've got four sophomores and a freshman playing in key positions,” Valentino said. “We're getting better every day, right now we're just going through some growing pains.”

The Blue Devils (2-4) will have the next two days off before returning to the practice field on Saturday to prepare for Southern Cayuga (0-3) on Monday. Moravia started the season strong, but have lost four straight, including Monday night's contest with Candor, in which the Blue Devils had a 10-2 lead, but lost 11-10.

“That hurt us, too,” Valentino said. “I told them after the game yesterday that the biggest thing was to not bring it into (the Jordan-Elbridge game) and I believe they did. It was a heartbreaking loss. We had finally a real nice game against a quality opponent and we let it slip away. That affected us today.”

Also affecting Moravia has been the loss of their three best players in Jake Wood, Greg Langtry and Dustin LeFave, who is now 3-0 pitching for the SUNY Oswego baseball team. But with the senior Mike Drake likely returning to the team Monday after suffering a shoulder injury during the soccer season, the Blue Devils look forward to a strong divisional run.

“Three of our four losses have been to B schools, so we're building on that,” Valentino said. “I reminded them that we've played some tough teams and it's going to make us better. When we get to division play against teams that are our size, I think we're going to match up nicely.”

Eagles 5

Blue Devils 0