WILLIAMSTOWN, W.Va. — Wheeling Central Catholic sophomore Zayne Rosnick tossed a two-hit shutout and he added four hits and four runs batted in as the top-ranked Maroon Knights collected another impressive early-season win, 9-0 at Williamstown.
Rosnick faced only three batters over the minimum. He did not walk a batter and yielded just two hits.
“It didn’t really matter what I called, he was just throwing all of them for strikes. That makes my job easy. His first outing, I think he had 14 strikeouts against Independence,” said Wheeling Central Catholic head coach Todd Cover.
“[Williamstown] is a good hitting team. So to keep them off balance and keep them with a zero on the board is real important.”
Rosnick had four singles and a sacrifice fly in his five plate appearances. He drove in the first two runs of the game in the first and third innings, respectively. Central stretched their lead out with consecutive three-run frames in the fifth and sixth innings.
“We’re just getting in the swing of things. We try to keep our energy high with our kids. And the good thing about us is that I think we have a pretty deep order. In any inning, we can pop a big number up there. We were also to get a little separation in the fifth inning and just ride it from there.”
Each batter in the Central lineup reached base at least once. Braxton Billick and Luke Tiu had two hits apiece. Gary Hatfield reached base four times and he scored three runs.
With their third win in as many days, Central improved to 8-0. All of their games have been played on the road or at neutral sites. They own a victory over Class AAAA No. 2 Hurricane.
“My thought process in making the schedule was to try to make it as difficult as possible and put these guys in a little bit of adversity. Last year we were 25-5. But I am not sure we faced enough adversity. We’re trying to play the best teams we can that will play us.”
Williamstown and Wheeling Central remain Region I rivals as both teams move up to Class AA this season. The Yellowjackets defeated the Maroon Knights in the regional round last season.
“As one of our seniors pointed out in the team huddle, this is the first time we have won at Williamstown. They played four years here. Getting that monkey off your back and knowing you can win on the road in a hostile environment against a really good team. Other than that, it is just a regular season win.”
Jackson Melonas and Carson Hill had base hits for Williamstown (6-4). WHS starting pitcher Tyler Keiser allowed two runs in three innings of work before giving way to Wyatt Powell and Melonas.