Staff photo / Preston Byers Boardman pitcher Tyler Kirlik delivers during Tuesday’s win vs. Austintown Fitch in Austintown.

AUSTINTOWN — A day after decisively beating All-American Conference (AAC) rival Austintown Fitch at home, Boardman went on the road and completed a back-to-back sweep, holding off the Falcons late Tuesday to leave Austintown with a 5-4 win.

“It was a gutsy win,” Spartans head coach Joe Lendak said. “We haven’t had a lot of those types of games yet this year. We’ve either kind of gotten our butts kicked or we’ve played really well to where it wasn’t close. So coming out with a close victory is a good sign. It means we’re moving in the right direction.”

Much like Monday’s game, during which Boardman jumped ahead 2-0 in the first inning, the Spartans got on the scoreboard early when Tyler Kirlik, the second batter of the game, turned on a pitch and hit a home run to left field. Boardman added to its lead in the top of the third with Ryan Neifer and Donovan Whippo RBI singles.

After Whippo’s hit, Fitch head coach Joe Paris inserted Anthony Camacci on the mound, replacing freshman starter Jacob Trautman, who walked the first two batters of the inning.

“He’s had some success with us at the varsity level, and this was a big game for him; it was his first league game,” Paris said of Trautman. “He didn’t seem like he had the same velocity as he’s had in the past, so he struggled. He also didn’t get his off-speed over, so he was basically a one-pitch pitcher. They just sat on the fastball, and they teed off on it a little bit.”

Camacci, who inherited a pair of runners, got out of a jam after walking Danny Jorge to load the bases. The reliever, who previously attempted several pickoffs to keep Whippo at first, caught Jorge out of position on a quick throw to first baseman Nicholas Pugliese, who tagged Jorge sliding back to the bag.

The Falcons, who were no-hit by Kirlik the first time through the order, finally had success starting in the fourth, which Gavin Loomis led off with a walk. Shortly after, Brady Stovall earned Fitch’s first hit of the game with a single to right field.

Evan Kessler got the Falcons on the board with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Loomis, who had advanced to third base on a passed ball. Greg Faunda then singled to bring home Stovall, and Pugliese followed with a double to deep left field to drive in Faunda and tie the game at 3.

Boardman responded swiftly. In the top of the fifth, Kirlik and Neifer hit a double and single, respectively, before Kirlik scored when Whippo beat the throw to first on an unsuccessful double-play attempt. Whippo then scored on a Thomas Ramovs RBI triple to left-center field to put the Spartans ahead 5-3.

Both teams left runners on the basepaths, and specifically on third base, down the stretch of Tuesday’s game. For Fitch, it happened in both the bottom of the fifth and sixth.

In the fifth, after Reggie Danko singled through the left side of the infield to score Loomis and pull the Falcons within one, a flyout to left field stranded Danko at third. Then, following a costly Boardman double play to leave LJ Norvell on third after a triple, Kessler similarly could not get home in the sixth, as Kessler’s leadoff walk and a pair of passed balls were wasted by back-to-back strikeouts and an inning-ending groundout.

Despite its missed opportunities, Fitch had one final chance in the bottom of the seventh after Loomis drew a two-out walk. However, a final groundout sealed the Falcons’ fate, leaving the tying run on base.

“Typical first inning for us all season,” Paris said. “We put ourselves in a hole against a good baseball team, and we’ve got to spend the rest of the game trying to climb out of it. This has been our MO all season long. I don’t know what it is. We try to change things up, but we just struggle badly in the first inning, and we put ourselves behind.

“It’s definitely not nerves. Our guys are ready to play. It’s not nerves. We just don’t execute. Whether it’s our pitchers missing spots or walking guys, we just don’t execute in the first inning. It just takes us a while. It’s just not a good formula to win baseball games.”

Between Trautman and Camacci, the Falcons struck out three batters, walked four and allowed seven hits. Meanwhile, Kirlik, who threw a complete game, had a dozen strikeouts and surrendered four hits, four walks and four earned runs.

Despite a few wild pitches and several high-pressure moments during the second half of Tuesday’s game, Kirlik said he was not worried he would be pulled, and Lendak said he did not consider it either.

“You just rely on your guys that have been for a long time,” Lendak said. “Tyler Kirlik’s been basically a three-and-a-half-year letterman; he played a little bit as a freshman. I trust him with the ball. I trust him at the plate. He’s just an absolute bulldog and a warrior, and I know that when it comes to the big-time moments, he’s going to show up.”

“We always want to try to protect our guys, but Tyler’s one of those guys that if you try to take him out, he’s going to try to fight you on it a little bit because he’s that type of competitor. His pitch count wasn’t real high, so we felt comfortable in terms of protecting him there. And once he gets into that seventh inning, it’s kind of his game until it’s not.”

With the win, Boardman improved to 6-8 on the season and 2-2 in AAC play. The Spartans are set to visit South Range on Thursday, and they will play Warren G. Harding in another league back-to-back next Monday and Tuesday.

Fitch dropped to 6-9 overall and 2-4 in the conference, the title for which is now officially out of reach with the loss and Canfield’s fifth AAC win Tuesday. The Falcons have the rest of the week off due to prom. They pick back up with a home game vs. Hubbard on Monday.