By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Michael Sardou bounced from the mound and headed toward the visitors’ dugout after retiring a batter on strikes in the fourth inning. Call it a case of youthful enthusiasm. The junior right-hander needed to get another batter to set down the side.
The next hitter connected on an RBI double.
It was a rare sequence on Tuesday when the opponent had an upper-hand on the Churchville-Chili starter.
Sardou hurled 5.1 innings, and the Saints defeated host Greece Athena, 7-1 for their third win in as many outings.
“They didn’t get good swings on him,” Churchville-Chili head coach Guy Puglia said. “He was moving the ball in and out. You don’t have to throw hard to be effective, just move the ball. That’s what he did. He knows how to pitch.”
Sardou struck out five. He allowed one run on five hits and a walk. He faced the minimum through the first two innings with a batter reaching in the second via error only to be erased on a double play.
In the third, he surrendered a one-out single before setting down the next two on strikes.
“My two-seam was running a lot,” Sardou said. “I was just mixing it up. I just wanted to throw strikes the whole game.”
At the plate, Sardou finished 2-for-4 with four RBI. His two-run single in the third inning plated Dom Morsch and Josh Campbell to give the Saints a 4-0 lead.
“We knew we just had to get guys on base and cause problems,” Sardou said. “That’s what we did.”
Parker Farnham led the third with a single and moved to second on a passed ball. Morsch followed with an RBI single. Josh Campbell walked, and Braedon Reina moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt to set up Sardou.
Campbell also walked and started the scoring in the first.
Farnham and Morsch both finished with two hits and two runs scored.
Cooper Romich drove in a run as C-C put the game out of reach with three runs in the seventh.
Evan Putney and Jaylen Lopez had a single apiece in the win.
Morsch hurled 1.2 scoreless innings of relief to register a save.
A year ago, Churchville earned the top seed in Class A1 before falling to eventual regional finalist Webster Thomas. Athena, a six-seed, reached the Class A2 finals.
Tuesday’s win gave the Saints an early-season gauge.
“This one means a lot,” Puglia said. “We just got back from Myrtle Beach and we played a team who had two Division I commits who threw 90. We hit them well which gave us confidence today. We feel really good about what’s going on.”
Connor Osier drove in the lone Athena (2-2) run with a double. Derrick Allen finished 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Sam Butera was 2-for-3. Riley Catena and Nate Hall had a hit apiece. Osier started and struck out seven over five innings of work.
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