Allentown, PA — By Kyle Craig | For lehighvalleylive.com Ryan Petruska’s bat was just as important as his arm on Thursday night. The Nazareth Area High School junior drove in both his team’s runs and earned the win on the mound as the Blue Eagles downed Easton 2-0 in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Northampton Division contest at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown. Petruska gave himself a lead before he tossed his first pitch. After Easton senior starter Nolan Fuller fanned the first two batters he faced, Nazareth freshman Bobby Grzenda singled the first offering he saw through the left side of the infield. Senior Evan Shak followed with a walk. Then Petruska, who also attacked the first pitch, smashed a triple over the head of the center fielder and to the wall, giving the Blue Eagles a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first inning. “I’m hitting a lot of first pitches,” Petruska said. “If I see a pitch, I just want to swing, put the bat on the ball, get the ball in play and see how it plays out.” The Nazareth left-hander, a Harvard University recruit, pitched five scoreless innings, surrendering two hits while striking out nine and walking four. He also worked around a handful of miscues by the defense. “He was a bulldog,” Blue Eagles coach Bryan Wolf said of Petruska. “He got strikeouts when he needed to get strikeouts. For the most part, our defense made plays when we had to. We only had three errors coming into the game, so having four errors today is uncharacteristic.” Easton leadoff hitter Khamryn Singto, a junior, worked a walk during a 10-pitch at-bat in the bottom of the first inning. He was eventually stranded at third base when Petruska coaxed a flyout to right field. The Red Rovers (3-3 overall, 1-2 division), No. 10 in the lehighvalleylive.com rankings, left a pair of runners in scoring position in the bottom of the third. Singto singled to start the half-inning, advanced to second base on a botched pickoff attempt and then stole third. Fuller drew a walk and his courtesy runner, Rowan Tom, stole second. Petruska squashed the danger with a strikeout. Singto, again, started an Easton threat with a walk in the bottom of the fifth. Nazareth senior Chase Kilareski made a nice running catch in right field, and senior second baseman Jack Fitzgerald handled a tricky chopper for the second out. Fuller, however, beat out an infield single to put runners on the corners and prompt a mound visit. “He (Petruska) thought I was taking him out,” Wolf said. “I said, ‘I’m not taking you out. I just want to ask you a question. Do you want this batter?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘All right, he’s all yours.‘” Petruska needed just three pitches to record his final strikeout of the evening and get back into the dugout. “I definitely had some innings where I started off a little wild,” Petruska said. “Ultimately, I dialed in, kept calm and tried to get that strike across ... I’m blessed to have the opportunity to play here (Coca-Cola Park) and get the start.” Kilareski tossed two hitless innings of relief. “I have full confidence in him,” Petruska said of Kilareski. “I knew he was going to get the job done ... I trust him. He threw strikes, mixed his pitches well.” Wolf also has full faith in Kilareski, a four-year varsity player and three-year starter. “I know what I’m going to get from him, and I just trust that when I bring him in, he’s going to throw strikes. And, he did,” the coach said. Fuller, a Bloomsburg University recruit, was a hard-luck loser on Thursday. The Rovers lefty tossed a complete game, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out nine. “Nolan pitched a great game. It was just a well-played high school baseball game ... two great pitching performances,” Easton coach Carm LaDuca said. “We had some chances, and we weren’t able to get it done offensively. We have to put a few more balls in play to make some things happen.” LaDuca pointed to the Rovers’ 10 strikeouts, specifically, as rally killers. “You’ve got to put balls in play. When you do, you can see that things happen. You have to make people make plays,” he said. “We have to do a better job of that offensively. We played a good defensive game; we pitched it well; but our offense has to get going.” Wolf indicated the Blue Eagles are still a work in progress after graduating nine seniors from last spring’s squad. “It’s great to win; don’t get me wrong. But, we have to [temper] expectations,” he said. “It’s still Game 6 of the season. We’re still trying to find ourselves ... I think this our sixth game and we’ve had six different starting lineups so far.” Nazareth improved to 4-2 overall (2-1 division) after an 0-2 start. “We’ve got good arms. If we can get the bats going, we can definitely be a dangerous team ... a team to look out for,” Petruska said. “We have the talent.” Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kyle Craig may be reached at [email protected].