STEUBENVILLE — Free bases lead to free runs.

The state-ranked Madonna baseball team scored five runs on wild pitches against Catholic Central, and the Blue Dons also took advantage of eight walks and three Crusader errors en route to a 12-0 victory in five innings on a warm Monday evening up at Vaccaro Field.

“The guys grinded it out,” Madonna (10-2) head coach TJ Miller said. “At the plate, we were a little impatient. We were a little impatient at the plate, but today we grinded it out. I will take a win any day.”

The Crusaders are throwing some inexperienced pitchers, and it has shown. Catholic Central has allowed 39 runs in its last three games.

“It has been the same thing,” Catholic Central (2-3) head coach Don Young said. “We are throwing a bunch of guys who have not thrown a lot of varsity innings. We’re just trying to make it work.

“We just have too many uncompetitive pitches. When we get pitches in the zone, we do pretty good. We just have too many uncompetitive pitches. It slows everything down. Defensively, we have done OK. It slows everything down, and our fielders are on their heels, and it becomes tough to make the plays.

“We did get better today. We did some good things. We want to keep getting better. We got better today. We stayed in the game for a few innings.

“We just make little mistakes. This is an unforgiving game. It is unforgiving on the team. We just put ourselves in bad situations. We are going to keep practicing. We are going to keep teaching. We have to pick up the pace. We have to pick up the pace of the game.”

After a scoreless first inning, the visitors from Hancock County tallied at least two runs in the final four innings on their way to winning the game via mercy rule. The visitors scored two runs in the second and third innings before collecting four in the fourth and four more in the fifth.

“TJ did a heck of a job,” Young said. “I know those guys over there. I am close to those guys. They are a real good team. We are going to see them again in a couple of weeks. They are one of the best teams we are going to see this season. We battled toe-to-toe with them for a few innings. We just could not get any breaks. We have to make the breaks to get momentum on our side. We have not been able to do that. Madonna is a good team.”

Reno Fuscardo delivered the win for Madonna. Fuscardo struck out four and walked one in his four innings of work. He was replaced by Sam Brooks to start the fifth. Brooks struck out two without walking a batter in his one inning on the mound.

“Reno pitched a great game,” Miller said. “He is one of my youngins. He’s a freshman. He hit his spots. He did a good job changing his speeds. He did a great job keeping them off-balance. I am proud of him and Sam. They both pitched well.”

Mason Meeks started the game for the hosts, and he was charged with the loss. Meeks struck out one and walked six in 2 2/3 innings of work on the mound. He was replaced by Caleb Wright during a two-out at-bat in the third. Wright pitched the final 2 1/3 innings without striking a batter, while walking two.

The visitors recorded six his in the game – two of which went for extra-bases. The victors struggled early on, but they picked it up in the later innings.

“I am super proud of the guys,” Miller said.

Catcher Kaiden Wells tallied a single, a double and four RBI to lead the way offensively for Madonna. Also for the boys in the blue jerseys, Koleton Grishkevich collected a run-scoring double, David Connors contributed a single and an RBI and Reed Wilharm recorded a double. Finally, Maddox Bowen ended up with an RBI, and Brooks singled.

“Once we settled in, we were patient, took a couple of pitches and had better approaches, we had better at-bats,” Miller said. “Catholic Central is a young team, and they are very well coached. They are young, but we know they are going to give us everything they have. I am proud of our guys. We capitalized on some things. We took advantage of some mistakes, and we grinded out a win.”

Matt Jones and Joe Vranish each singled for the Crusaders. Both hits came in the bottom of the first.

The Blue Dons left runners on second and third in the first. Both runners drew walks with two outs.

Jones and Vranish had back-to-back singles with two outs in the home half of the inning, however, Jones was thrown out at third on Vranish’s single to end the inning.

In the second, Brooks walked and Brayden Miller was hit by a pitch to put two Madonna runners on base with no outs. A sacrifice bunt by Wilharm moved the pair up two second and third, and Bowen brought Brooks home with a sacrifice fly to give the Blue Dons a 1-0 lead. Miller ended up scoring on a wild pitch to increase Madonna’s advantage to 2-0.

Grishkevich led off the third by drawing a walk, and moved up on a single by Connors. Both runners ended up scoring on wild pitch to extend Madonna’s advantage to 4-0.

Wells doubled home a pair of runs in the fourth before adding a two-run single in the fifth. Grishkevich

brought home a run in the fifth with a double, and Connors plated a run in the same inning when he drew a bases-loaded walk. The other two Madonna runs scored on wild pitches.

“It has been good so far,” Miller said about his team’s season. “We are coming off a nice weekend. In the polls, we are No. 3 in the Metro News Poll, and we are No. 1 on MaxPreps in single-A. We have been playing good ball. We want to continue to improve. The guys are buying in. That helps.”

Catholic Central once again played without senior Eli Fayak.

“We played without Eli Fayak,” Young said. “He’s been out. We were relying on him for his senior leadership. We have had to adjust without him. Hopefully, we will get him back soon.”

Madonna is scheduled to play East Liverpool at 5 p.m. today at home at Bowman Field.

“The kids see all the polls,” Miller said. “They use all the technology. We have addressed the polls. You can’t put a lot of value in the polls. They are just one man’s opinion. We still have a lot of work to do. We want to keep working hard. We want to stay focused. It is still early.”

Catholic Central is slated to play Wellsville at 5 p.m. today on the road up at Hammond Park.

“If we come and give a good effort, and we cut down on our mistakes, we can compete,” Young said.

Though Monday was a nice day, the weather has not been kind to the Crusaders this season.

“It has been tough on the kids and tough on the coaches,” Young said. “There is only so much you can do in practice. We have to play to get better. We are working through things. We have to work on the small things, but we have to play more. The weather looks good for tomorrow. Then after our Easter Break, our schedule starts to pick up. Hopefully, we can settle down and be playing our best ball of the season come tournament time. We have to get used to game speed. Hopefully, we are able to get that game in tomorrow. We just have to play more.”

Madonna 12, Catholic Central 0

Madonna 022 44 – 12 6 1

Catholic Central 000 00 – 0 2 3

MADONNA (10-2): Fuscardo WP (4IP, 4K, 1BB), Brooks (1IP, 2K, 0BB) and Wells. Grishkevich D, RBI; Connors S, RBI; Wells S, D, 4RBI; Brooks S; Wilharm D; Bowen RBI.

CATHOLIC CENTRAL (2-3): Meeks LP (2 2/3IP, 1K, 6BB), Wright (2 1/3IP, 0K, 2BB) and Jones. Jones S; Vranish S.