SENIOR’S SHINE AS EP LACES LEETONIA IN DOUBLE DIP
NEW WATERFORD, OH- East Palestine came out swinging and never looked back in a dominant doubleheader sweep over Leetonia on Wednesday, winning 8-0 and 6-0 behind two shutdown pitching performances and some aggressive base running.
In game one, Cale Moraski was untouchable. The righty punched out 14 batters across five innings of two-hit ball, walking none and completely owning the strike zone. He didn’t just do it on the mound either—Moraski went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of singles that helped keep the pressure on Leetonia all game. East Palestine opened the scoring in the first with a Simon RBI single and an error, then tacked on more in the second behind Moraski’s bat and smart baserunning. The Bulldogs walked seven times and swiped seven bags, making life miserable for the Leetonia defense.
Game two saw more of the same, just a different name on the bump. Blake Noel took the ball and tossed five innings of one-hit, shutout baseball while striking out eight and walking nobody. The Bulldogs exploded for five runs in the first inning to set the tone early—Kyler Bourne delivered a two-run single, Brad Bartels brought one in on a groundout, and both Tommy Beatty and Jaxson Robb chipped in RBI singles. Bourne wasn’t done either, knocking in another run in the second and finishing 2-for-2 with 3 RBIs. East Palestine added six more stolen bases to their tally in game two, once again turning walks into runs.
With the sweep, East Palestine tightened the screws defensively, stayed disciplined at the plate, and kept the pressure high on the basepaths. They’ll carry that momentum into Thursday’s road matchup at Heartland Christian.