RECAP >> Any time Cole Moreau takes the mound for Emmaus he gives his team a good chance to win.
Such was the case Monday afternoon at historic Limeport Stadium against rival Central Catholic.
The sophomore standout tossed five scoreless innings and his teammates backed him with 13 hits as the Hornets did just enough scoring to hold off a late Vikings rally for a 6-4 win.
For his efforts, Moreau was named the SportClips Player of the Game on the LIVE broadcast on The Eastern Pa. Sports Network.
“I thought Cole was really good, he was in the zone a lot today,” said head coach Jeremy Hass. “They (Central Catholic) did a good job of making him work a little extra and kudos to them because they battled all day and didn’t make it easy on Cole.”
They didn’t, but like he’s done all season, Moreau once again showed why he continues to be one of the top pitchers in all of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.
The southpaw won his fourth straight decision as he improved to 5-2 on the season. Senior Wiley Fleck came on in the sixth inning and gave up four runs on just two hits, but was able to close it out and earn the save, his second of the season.
“Our guys have a lot of confidence in all of our pitchers,” said Haas, the Hornets sixth year manager. “I think whenever Cole steps on the field, they think that we are invincible and it’s a good thing, but sometimes that can be a double-edged sword and maybe they don’t take a good approach and then we find ourselves in a dog fight.
“The players can’t feel invincible, but they can definitely feel good about having him on the bump.”
Emmaus won its fourth straight game as they improved to 10-2 in the EPC and 10-6 overall.
The Hornets continued to get contributions up and down their lineup with seven different players having at least one hit. Haas praised the efforts of his team’s No.7, 8 and 9 hitters – catcher Bryan Kain, Moreau and left fielder Daniel Rohlsen.
“The bottom three guys in the lineup did such a good job today,” he said. “They’ve been taking solid at-bats, bunting, moving runners and just doing the little things. I’m very happy for them because they’ve been working their butts off.”
Rohlsen was 2-for-4 with an RBI, Moreau had a big two-run double late in the game and despite going 0-for-4, Kain had solid at-bats at the plate.
Senior senior second baseman Cohen Schadler led the offense with three hits, while fellow seniors third baseman Chad Kauffman and first baseman Josiah Williams also had two hits.
The game was scoreless thru the first four innings in a pitchers’ duel between Moreau and fellow southpaw Nolan Young before Emmaus was able to push across a run in the top of the fifth inning on senior Noah Hogan’s RBI groundout.
The Hornets then scored four more times in the sixth, but then watched Central Catholic rally with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning before Emmaus picked up a big insurance run in the seventh to put the game away.
Central Catholic, which was playing its seventh game in eight days, was led by catcher Mike Martinez and second baseman Ryan Rooney who each had three hits. Teammate Jake Strobl added two hits for the Vikings who dropped to 5-8 in the EPC and 7-10 overall.
On the mound, Young, who was making just his second start of the season, suffered the loss. The left-hander pitched well allowing three runs on seven hits in five innings of work before tiring late.
The two teams will meet for the second time in as many days this afternoon at 4 p.m. at Church Lane Park.
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Emmaus 6, CCHS 4
Em – 000 014 1 – 6-13-3
CC – 000 004 0 – 4-7-1
Cole Moreau, Wiley Fleck (6) and Bryan Kain; Nolan Young, Nick Bowser (6), Ryan Rooney (7) and Michael Martinez. WP – Moreau (5-2), LP – Young, S – Fleck (2)