Norwalk stays hot in rout over Old Fort

NORWALK — The Norwalk baseball team continued its hot start to the season with Tuesday's run-rule win over visiting Old Fort in near-freezing conditions at NHS. The Truckers scored 11 runs over the second, third, and fourth innings in the 12-1 win to improve to 5-1 on the season. Noah Helton was 3 for 4 with a double, drove in two runs, and scored three times out of the leadoff position for Norwalk. In the bottom of the first, Brady Singer singled and scored on a passed ball for a 1-0 lead. Grady Naseman singled and scored on an RBI double from Helton to start a three-run second inning. Singer drove in Helton with a single along with an error by the Stockaders to make it 3-0, then Carter Harp added a single that also led to an error to score Singer to make it 4-0. The Truckers then put the game out of reach with a five-run third inning. Canyon Craig singled and scored after an error by the catcher on a base hit single from Greg Keefer to right field. Helton followed with a single, and with two outs, the Stockaders intentionally walked Harp to load the bases. Keefer then scored on a wild pitch, and Wesley Shupe hit a hard ball to short that was misplayed and allowed both Helton and Harp to score for an 8-0 lead. Landon Ferkel then hit another ground ball that was misplayed, which allowed Shupe to score for a 9-0 advantage. In the fourth, Naseman walked, and Max Bores reached on a dropped third strike for two runners on with one out. Helton singled to center to score Naseman, while an error on a ball hit by Lincoln Snyder allowed Bores to score for the 11th run. Norwalk closed out its scoring when Helton came across the plate on a passed ball. "Offensively, we are putting the ball in play and not striking out a lot so far," Norwalk head coach Jason Higgins said. "Hopefully that will equate to more barrels moving forward." Old Fort got its run in the top of the fifth after a single and hit batter led to an RBI groundout. Keefer pitched the first four innings to pick up the win. He allowed just one hit and struck out seven with one walk. Bores allowed the earned run on one hit with a pair of strikeouts in the fifth. "Greg got is first of hopefully many varsity wins to come," Higgins said. "He was composed and competed. I told him we needed three innings today, and he told Coach (Chris) Jackson he had more in him than three. "I thought Max came in for his first varsity inning and did a good job of throwing strikes." The Truckers head to Sandusky on Wednesday in the SBC Lake opener. They host Plymouth on Thursday and jump back into league play on Friday with a home game against Clyde. "We're excited to be 5-1 entering league play and we are hoping to keep the momentum going," Higgins said. "I am making sure to keep pushing these guys. Whether it's conditioning, the weight room, or baseball IQ, we are trying to get better every day." Old Fort 000 01 — 1 2 6 Norwalk 135 3x — 12 12 1 WP: Keefer; LP: Tackett 2B: (N) Helton