WADSWORTH — The runaway freight train known as the Wadsworth baseball team continued to rumble down the tracks.
Taking most by surprise — except themselves, of course — the Grizzlies demolished state-ranked Twinsburg 13-3 Thursday in a key early-season Suburban League National Division game that only took five innings.
Wadsworth (7-0-1, 5-0) extended its SL winning streak to 26 games. It also stretched unbeaten streaks for regular-season (44) and home games (36) after unloading for 13 hits against the Tigers (6-1, 3-1), who are 16th in the Prep Baseball Report Division I state poll.
“This gives us more motivation to keep winning,” All-Gazette catcher Craig Palidar said. “This was two state-ranked teams going at it (Wadsworth is 12th). It felt really good to get a big win like that.”
The Grizzlies never trailed after an RBI groundout by Josh Hagans plated starting pitcher Chris Byers (2-0) for a 2-1 lead in the first. Wadsworth exploded for six runs in the fourth to take a 9-2 advantage and ended the game early with four runs with two outs in the fifth.
The veterans led the way, as top-of-the-lineup hitters Cameron Deemer (2-for-3, 2 RBIs, 2 runs), A.J. Robinson (1-for-3, 2 runs), Palidar (3-for-3, 4 RBIs, 3 runs) and Byers (2-for-3, 3 RBIs) combined to go 8-for-12 with 10 RBIs, seven runs and two stolen bases.
They were hardly the only standouts, as No. 7 hitter Luke Clinton was 3-for-3 with two runs, Ross Thompson added a sacrifice bunt, single, run and a highlight-reel diving grab at second base and No. 9 hitters Steven Ahern and Nick Landolph each scored.
Despite losing six starters from the 2015 lineup — Byers was a part-time slugger last year — the Grizzlies have scored 70 runs in eight games. They also have scored a run in 65 consecutive games.
“I’m proud we came out and hit the baseball,” coach Greg Pickard said. “We made some nice plays in the field, got the bunts down when we needed to and (Byers) battled like he always does. That was good. That was a good win for us.”
Byers had a very Byers-like performance. The 6-foot-1, 237-pound right-hander pounded the lower-outside part of the strike zone, allowing two earned runs, walking none and striking out seven.
Byers, who threw 48 strikes on 66 pitches, had issues with Twinsburg standout shortstop Christian Tejada (3-for-3, 3 runs) and also allowed doubles to Ryan Christy, DeVonte Washington and Brandon Vinas, but he made big pitches in big situations.
With Wadsworth leading 3-2 in the fourth, Vinas led off with his double and moved to third on a wild pitch. A groundout kept Vinas at third and Byers then induced Chad Szydlowski into a deep grounder to shortstop Deemer, who fired home to Palidar for a bang-bang call that went the Grizzlies’ way.
Wadsworth then had its breakout inning and the outcome was never in doubt.
“We came out with a lot of energy today,” Byers said. “We knew it was a big game. We knew Twinsburg coming into the game was undefeated in the league, too, and we needed to play our best ball to beat them.”
Wadsworth 13, Twinsburg 3 (5 inn.)
TWINSBURG 101 01 — 3 6 3
WADSWORTH 210 64 — 13 13 1
Two outs when mercy run scored. WP — Chris Byers (2-0) 5 innings, 2 earned runs, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts. LP — Robert Lipnos (1-1) 4 innings, 9 runs, 6 earned, 10 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts. Twinsburg (6-1, 3-1) — Christian Tejada 2 singles, triple, 3 runs; Ryan Christy double; DeVonte Washington double; Brandon Vinas double. Wadsworth (7-0-1, 5-0) — Cameron Deemer 2 singles, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; A.J. Robinson single, 2 runs; Craig Palidar 2 singles, double, 4 RBIs, 3 runs, Byers 2 singles, 2 RBIs; Luke Clinton 3 singles, 2 runs.