By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Garfield’s 14-3 rout May 11 at Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Division rival Liberty was pretty much decided in the top of the fourth inning.

That’s when the G-Men turned a 3-1 deficit into an 11-3 lead by hanging up a 10-spot.

They had eight hits in that frame alone and 16 overall in a game that was called after five innings due to the 10-run rule.

Garfield upped their overall record to 6-9 and their division mark to 4-7.

“We’re finally clicking offensively,” head coach Mike Paes said. “We’ve had a lot of games this season where we didn’t have a bunch of hits. In a lot of those games, we lost because of not being able to come up with timely hits or good hits or multiple hits in a row, so it was great to see our guys come together and hit the ball.”

Pacing the road team were seniors Brandyn Bogucki, the shortstop, and centerfielder Jack Neikirk. Bogucki, who is batting close to .500 on the season, doubled to start the game, singled three times, had two RBIs and scored three runs, while Neikirk singled three times and scored twice.

“Brandyn broke the school record as a freshman for highest batting average in a season (.548), and it seems like ever since then he’s been doing great things,” said Paes. “He’s just an all-around player. He’s fast, he steals bases all the time, he hits for contact, he can hit a couple doubles.

“Jack didn’t have it at the plate early on in the season, but he’s really stepped up lately. He’s been hitting the ball, really coming up clutch. He’s turned it around, and it’s happening at the right time, with the postseason coming up.”

Pitching wise, senior Garet Warnick started and went four innings, giving up all three runs (only one earned) and a hit while fanning five and walking three.

“Some games have gotten away from Garet a little bit, but he answered the challenge against Liberty,” said the coach. “The umpire had a pretty tight strike zone for a while there, but Garet was hitting his spots pretty well.”

Sophomore Jared Cardinal pitched the last inning, striking out the side.