NEFFS – Shadyside used a fourth-frame explosion en route to a 14-4 six-inning triumph over Bellaire at scenic and chilly John Blacker Field on Tuesday afternoon.

The Tigers found themselves on the short end of a 4-1 score after three innings. The Orange & Black, however, made the most of three Big Red errors, two walks and a hit-batter to seize control with a seven-run fourth.

Shadyside added three runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings to seal the deal.

The win evened the Tigers at 3-3 on the year. They return to action Thursday, hosting Steubenville Catholic Central.

“We started out a little slow,” Shadyside head coach Brian Collins said. “That is something we need to avoid. It could come back and cost us.

“But we started to make good contact and took advantage of what they gave us. We finished much better than we started,” he added. “It was a nice solid win.”

Collins received a sparkling mound effort from Luke Crozier. The senior right-hander turned in an economical 68-pitch complete-game performance. He fanned six, did not issue a walk and surrendered only five hits.

“Luke pitched a real nice game. He had very good control,” Collins said. “Luke is one of my aces. He showed that again tonight.”

Crozier retired the final 12 batters he faced.

The youthful Big Reds are still a work in progress for first-year coach Mason Ramsay.

“We did some positive things tonight,” Ramsay said. “We jumped on them early but then it got away from us. We didn’t make the plays in the fourth inning that we needed to make.

“Scott (Balsei) pitched well into the fourth and then we made too many mistakes behind him, enabling Shadyside to have a big inning,” added the former Big Red athletic standout. “We are a young team with only one senior but you still need to be able to make plays.”

Balsei, the Big Reds’ lone senior, gave way to Alex Padgett in the fifth while Clay Moore worked the sixth.

Bellaire will seek to pocket its initial win of the campaign when it visits Barnesville this afternoon.

Shadyside drew first blood with a run in the initial inning. Damian Russell opened the contest with a triple to deep left. He scored on a RBI groundout by Jacob Allen.

Bellaire responded with two runs in the home-half of the first. Brae Schmidli singled and scored on a Padgett double. Ayden Warner plated Padgett with a single.

The Big Reds pushed the lead to 4-1 in the fourth. Andy Hines unloaded a triple to right field. Schmidli delivered an RBI single and later scored on a Jordan Schybal-Lednik RBI groundout.

That would be as good as it would get for Bellaire.

Shadyside’s game-changing fourth inning featured just one hit – a single from Kelson West. But the uprising was fueled by numerous Bellaire errors and pitching wildness.

The Tigers’ fifth frame included RBI singles from Russell and Allen while Trey Wright clubbed an RBI double in the sixth while Nathan Beck had a run-scoring single.

Shadyside finished with seven hits, equalling the number of errors Bellaire committed.

Russell and Beck led the Tigers’ attack with two hits each.

Schmidli was the lone Big Red with two hits.