By Cody Marshall-Sultan of Sports

SHARON SPRINGS–After taking a tough loss to Middleburgh on Tuesday, the Galway varsity baseball team wanted nothing more to get back to their winning ways with Wednesday’s game at Sharon Springs. Kyle Collins was given the start on the mound for the Golden Eagles, while Alex Johnstone was named the starter for the Spartans. Sophomore Ben Manna made his second appearance with the varsity team, filling in for the suspended Evan Ceroalo.

In baseball, they often say that hitting is contagious. If that’s the case, it spread like a disease through the Galway lineup. Of the 10 Golden Eagles, eight players recorded hits in the winning effort and it began early in the first inning. Shane Marshall led off the inning by beating out a ground ball to second base. After Adam Berlin popped out, Kyle Collins roped a single into left field, scoring Shane Marshall to put Galway on top 1-0. Nick Manna walked in his next at bat, placing runners on the corners after a stolen base and passed ball allowed Collins to go to third. The big blow of the inning followed as Cody Marshall ripped the first pitch he saw into the left center field gap and plated Collins and Manna before Marshall was thrown out trying to stretch the double into three bases. After half an inning of play, Galway lead 3-0. The Spartans managed to get one run back in the bottom half was Nick Roach came around to score to make it a 3-1 affair.

All scoring would be halted until the 3rd inning when Galway brought four more runs across to widen their lead. After a Kyle Collins double, Cody Marshall grounded his second double of the game down the third base line and into left field. Collins scored and the Galway lead was 4-1. Marshall would later score after a passed ball moved him to third and a wild throw down to third by the catcher allowed him to score. At the end of the inning, the Golden Eagles led the contest 7-1.

The big inning came in the top of the 4th. The Golden Eagles managed to score 10 runs on just four hits in the inning. Kyle Collins picked up his second double, while Cody Marshall, Frank Schwab, and Ben Manna all singled. The single by Ben Manna marked his first hit in his varsity career. By the time the Spartans got out of the inning, the Golden Eagles lead 17-1.

The Golden Eagles would tack on four more in the 6th, with the big blow coming off the bat of Nick Manna. A bases loaded double to center field allowed three runs to score for Galway. The Golden Eagles would pick up one final run in the 7th, while allowing just four total over the last six innings, taking the game 22-5.

Kyle Collins picked up the win on the mound (2-0). On the offensive side, the Golden Eagles’ 3-4-5 combination of Collins, Manna, and Cody Marshall practically supplied a box score of their own. The three players combined for a 10-for-12 day, with 14 RBIs, five doubles, and 5 singles. Cody Marshall was 5-for-5 with 2 doubles and 3 singles and 6 RBIs to lead the charge. Kyle Collins was 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and a single and 4 RBIs, while Nick Manna was 2-for-3 with a double and a single and 4 RBIs as well. Shane Marshall, Adam Berlin, Ben Manna, Tyler Bailey, and Frank Schwab also had a hit in the game, including a long double to right field by Berlin in the 6th.

The win puts Galway’s magic number to clinch a Sectional birth down to 3. Also, Galway improved to 5-5 overall and 4-3 in the WAC. Meanwhile, Sharon Springs dropped to 1-4 overall and 1-3 in the WAC. The Golden Eagles finally get a break this week, but are back on the diamond Friday. The Golden Eagles will play host to the Berne-Knox-Westerlo Bulldogs at 4:30pm.