Behind the one-hit pitching of Alex Erwin, the Brandywine baseball team opened its 2011 season with a 10-0, five-inning victory over visiting River Valley Friday afternoon.

The second game of the non-league doubleheader was called due to weather.

The Bobcats (1-0)) didn’t waste any time putting the Mustangs behind the eight ball, scoring twice in the first inning and then added single runs in the second and third frames to open up a 4-0 lead.

A five-run fifth inning broke the game wide open. Brandywine scored a run in the bottom of the fifth to end the game via the 10-run rule.

“I was real happy with Alex Erwin limiting his pitch count, throwing strikes and keeping our defense in the game,” Brandywine coach David Sidenbender said. “I thought we took a good approach at the plate by taking some pitches and working the count. We had three two-strike hits and three two-out hits for RBIs, so I feel we are starting out in the right direction. For a newcomer, I was real happy with Evan Hartman. A sophomore in his first varsity experience gets two hits and three RBIs. If we can get that out of the bottom of the lineup we can compete at a high level.”

River Valley 000 00 – 0 1 3

Brandywine 211 51 – 10 10 2

WP – Alex Erwin (1-0) and Austin Searles

LP Jason German and Phillip Dudeck

2B: Buck Bourdon (BW), Brad Millin (BW)

Varsity records: River Valley 0-2, Brandywine 1-0

Softball

Weather may have kept the Brandywine softball team from getting in a pair of games Friday afternoon in its season opener, but the River Valley Mustangs couldn’t keep the Bobcats from picking up a victory.

Brandywine won the opening game of the scheduled doubleheader 13-1 in five innings. The second game was called off due to weather.

The Mustangs grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first innings, but the Bobcats (1-0) responded with three runs in the bottom of the second and three more in the third inning to break the game open.

A seven-run fourth inning meant that the game was only going to last five innings due to the 10-run rile.

Brande Overholt tossed a three-hitter for the Bobcats.

Brandywine finished with 10 hits, led by Mikayla Kemp, who was 4-for-4. Paige Jeffrey added a triple and Tori Hunt a double. Rachael Ort had a pair of singles and drove in three runs.

River Valley 100 00 – 1 3 2

Brandywine 033 7x – 13 10 0

WP – Brande Overholt (1-0) and Rachael Ort

LP – N. Zabel and E. Kiourtsis

2B: Hunt (BW)

3B: Paige Jeffrey (BW)

HR: Kiourtsis (RV)

Varsity record: Brandywine 1-0