PITTSBURGH – Chatham baseball (1-2, 0-0 PAC) used an early offensive onslaught to defeat La Roche (0-1, 0-0 AMCC) 16-7 in the Cougars' home opener at West Field.
 
Angelo DeLeonardis kicked off the scoring for Chatham when he crossed the plate via an errant pickoff attempt by the Redhawks. Ty Blackburn then made it 3-0 Cougars when his base hit plated Caleb Jones and Eddie Rueda. A Cooper Baxter drawn walk pushed the fourth Chatham run of the inning across before a wild pitch gave the hosts a 5-0 advantage after just one inning. La Roche got a couple of runs back in the second inning on a base hit, but the Cougars made the score 6-2 after another Redhawk throwing error.
 
Chatham broke the game open in inning three, as Baxter, DeLeonardis and Rueda hit back-to-back-to-back RBI singles. An error and a Jones sac fly increased the Cougar lead to 11-2, after which Kayden Leck and Tyler Cote came through with run-scoring hits to give Chatham an 11-run cushion through three frames. Caleb Jones scored on a wild pitch in the fifth inning, and Baxter tacked on his 3^rd and 4^th RBI of the evening with a single to extend the Cougar rampage to 16-2. La Roche would score 2 runs in the sixth inning, 1 in the seventh, and one in the eighth, but it would not be enough to overcome the 14-run deficit.
 
Ethan Botkin picked up the win for Chatham after tossing a scoreless fifth inning with one hit allowed and a strikeout. Gianni Cantini registered 7 Ks in his four innings of work, allowing 2 earned runs. Tyler Cote struck out two in his scoreless inning on the mound.
 
Baxter batted 4-4 with 4 RBI and a walk for the Cougars. Eddie Rueda was 4-5 at the plate with 3 runs scored and an RBI. Ty Blackburn went 2-4 with 2 RBI, 2 runs and a walk. Caleb Jones scored 2 runs on 1-2 hitting with an RBI and a walk.
 
The next time Chatham will take the field will be in Davenport, Fl. on Saturday, March 1 for a 3 p.m. doubleheader against Clark.