By Cody Marshall-Sultan of Sports

MAYFIELD–The Galway Golden Eagles varsity baseball team has been anxious to put the uniform issue behind them and start getting the job done on the diamond. Tuesday, they had the opportunity to get the season off on the right foot with a non-league contest against Mayfield. Andrew Haschytz, a Mayfield senior, was on the mound for the Panthers, while the Golden Eagles sent senior Nick Manna to the hill.

The first inning went by quickly for Galway as Shane Marshall struck out swinging, followed by a liner by his brother Cody that was snagged by Haschytz. The inning came to an end when Kyle Collins lined out softly to second base. The bottom of the inning gave the Golden Eagles an early scare as junior Dylan Toscano reached on a dropped third strike with one out, followed by a Nick Petricca single. However, Manna was able to record back-to-back strikeouts to end the Mayfield threat.

The second inning was a big highlight for the Golden Eagles. Senior Adam Berlin lead off with a single, followed by another single by Nick Manna. Evan Ceroalo put the Golden Eagles on the board with an RBI single to left. After a Frank Schwab strikeout, Paul Wojcik singled to left to bring home Manna to put the visitors up 2-0. Junior Tyler Bailey kept the rally going as he singled to center, which was then booted by the center fielder, scoring Ceroalo to put the Golden Eagles up 3-0. Shane Marshall stepped up again and roped a single to right, which scored Wojcik easily as well as Tyler Bailey who managed to slide in just in front of the tag to put the Golden Eagles up 5-0. Cody Marshall then flew out to center and Kyle Collins lined one up the middle that was once again snagged on the mound by Haschytz.

The 5-0 lead held until the 4th inning when the Panthers managed to scratch across 4 runs, trimming the lead to 5-4. The Golden Eagles managed to get another run across in the 5th to go up 6-4 after Nick Manna’s double scored Adam Berlin easily. The Golden Eagles kept Mayfield off the board in the 5th, but the 6th was a different story. After holding Galway scoreless in the top half, Mayfield exploded once again for 4 runs in the bottom half, taking an 8-6 lead into the final frame.

Adam Berlin lead off the inning with a double to right center. From there, Nick Manna singled into left, scoring Berlin once again to make it an 8-7 contest. However, the Panthers would hold Galway right there as they take this year’s season opener by just one run.

Nick Manna (0-1) was dealt the loss, while Andrew Haschytz (1-0) picked up the win. Manna tossed 6 strong innings, allowing 8 runs and striking out 11. The Golden Eagles will be back on the diamond today at 4:30pm when they play host to the Schoharie Indians. Meanwhile, Mayfield will travel to Berne to take on the Berne-Knox-Westerlo Bulldogs in their WAC opener. Mayfield and Galway will play their WAC contest April 18th at Galway, with first pitch scheduled to be thrown at 4:30pm.