Staff photo / Preston Byers. Austintown Fitch’s John Darnley throws a pitch in the Falcons’ 13-1 win against Howland on Monday.

AUSTINTOWN — After being held scoreless for the first two innings and falling behind 1-0 to Howland, Austintown Fitch’s offense exploded for a 10-run third inning and three more in the fourth en route to a five-inning, 13-1 blowout win at home Monday.

Howland scored the game’s first run and took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning when Brendan Ray, with the bases loaded and no outs, grounded into a double play. Dominic Santee then grounded out to end the half-inning, leaving a runner stranded on third.

Howland head coach Britt Taylor lamented the missed opportunities at the plate the third inning provided.

“We had a really good third inning there,” Taylor said. “Unfortunately, [we] hit into that double play, could have been a much bigger inning. … That was an absolute killer.”

Taylor admitted a big third inning for the Tigers “wouldn’t have mattered,” though, as Fitch responded moments later with 10 runs in a half-inning that lasted more than 30 minutes and featured two Howland pitchers. Starter Brayden Kovarik, who breezed through the first two innings on the mound, allowed his first hit of the game to lead off the bottom of the third before striking out Nik Kyprianou. And then the trouble began.

Kovarik surrendered another hit and walked Carson Fuller to load the bases. Mason Petridis took advantage of the moment, smashing a ball to center field to drive in three runs on a stand-up double. Two more hits and three more runs followed before Taylor replaced Kovarik with Sully O’Donnell.

With Fitch’s bats white-hot, O’Donnell stood little chance of getting the Tigers out of the third cleanly. Drew Kaschak singled and Hayden Warmouth walked to load the bases, which allowed a Kyprianou walk to score Fitch’s seventh run of the inning. The Falcons scored two more after Frank Senediak’s grounder turned into a two-run error after an off-target throw to home allowed both Kaschak and Warmouth to score.

Fitch reached double-digit runs on a Carter Owens single before O’Donnell was finally able to secure the final two outs of the inning.

Fitch coach Joe Paris said he spoke with the team about their sluggish start before their big inning at the plate.

“For some strange reason, we were flat. I have no idea why. We’re playing for the league,” Paris said. “But when you’re dealing with 16, 17 and 18-year-old kids, you never know. So that’s my job. So I got them in a huddle before the third inning and said a few words to them. And next thing I know, we got guys on base, we’re running, we’re stealing, doing those kinds of things, making things happen.”

The speech didn’t just ignite the Fitch batters either; Falcons pitcher John Darnley, who had allowed a few hits and walked one through the first three innings, returned to the mound for the fourth and retired the side in order. After another three runs in the bottom of the fourth to put the Falcons up 13-1, Darnley completed another 1-2-3 half-inning to end the game in the fifth. In five innings pitched, Darnley allowed three hits, one unearned run, walked one and struck out four.

Kovarik, credited with the loss, surrendered seven runs, six hits and walked one and struck out two in 2.1 innings pitched. O’Donnell allowed two hits and three runs, while Anthony Marimpietri, who pitched the fourth inning for Howland, gave up four hits and three runs in his lone inning on the mound.

After the game, Taylor said a few of his players said they struggled with Fitch’s all-turf surface.

“I don’t want to make excuses. A couple of our kids had trouble with footing. Just not used to throwing her off of that mound. That’s what they were telling me, but [Fitch] just hit the ball,” Taylor said. “Brayden, he’s a freshman, he pitched very well the first and second. We got through that lineup once, and they’ve got a team full of good hitters. And they earned it there in the third inning. The wheels came off the bus a little bit after that, but for the most part, they just hit the crap out of the ball there in the third inning and nothing we can do about it.”

Howland (7-7) and Fitch (13-6) will play again today at 5 p.m. in Howland as the second half of a back-to-back to begin the week. To avoid another slow start, Paris said he will have a pep talk prepared before today’s contest but that the result will ultimately lie with the players themselves.

“We’ll definitely have a little bit of a motivational speech before the game starts, but it’s gonna be different; we’re on the road,” Paris said. “I’ll probably talk to them on the bus, but as far as reading some poetry or something like that, some magical thing, no. They know what they gotta do.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Preston Byers by email at pbyers@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @PresByers.