Andy Close
WARREN, Pa. – Ben Sowa was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Brady Berdine pitched four strong innings as Warren earned an 8-3 win over Erie.
Berdine settled down after a 37-pitch first inning in which he gave up a pair of runs, and was dominant from that point forward.
In his four innings of work, he allowed just one hit and an unearned run, striking out 10 and walking six.
“The first inning was a little big bit shaky, but then after a while, my breaking ball was considerably better than it was last game,” Berdine said. “I think that helped us out in the long run and the fastball started to get spotted there at the end.”
An RBI groundout by Eric Dippold cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first, and the Dragons scored three runs in the second inning to take the lead for good against Erie ace Jose Quinones.
Archie Teconchuk, Berdine, and Aidan Zdarko all walked, which was followed by a sacrifice fly from Gio Elinsky and an RBI single from Sowa, with an error on Sowa’s base hit allowing another run to score.
“I think I just saw the ball really clearly,” Sowa said. “I had a good idea of what was coming and did my best to put it in the right place.”
See Sowa and Berdine’s full interview:
Sowa also had RBI singles in the fourth and fifth innings, as well. Konnor Hoffman was also 2-for4 with an RBI single for the Dragons.
Carson Farr came on in relief of Berdine, pitching three innings and alloiwng one run on two hits, striking out five and walking four.
Quinones had an RBI single and Juan Ramos was 2-for-3 for the Royals.
Quinones took the loss, allowing six runs (three earned) in 3 ⅓ innings on five hits, striking out two and walking four.
