By DAVID VANTRESS

For the Northwest News

COLUMBIA CITY — The Carroll High School baseball team is off and running in 2023.

The Chargers are 3-0 after a busy first week. They blitzed past Columbia City on the road, 13-0 last Tuesday night, March 28, then followed up over the weekend with two victories on Saturday: An 11-6 win over New Albany and a 7-6 triumph over Floyd Central.

Against New Albany, the Chargers pounded out 12 hits. Will Worrell and Cameron Saunders combined to fan 11 Bulldogs and Worrell earned the win. Andrew Sinish led the Chargers attack, going 4-for-5 with four runs scored and an RBI. Conner Barkel was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI, and Michael Dierckman went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Jaxon Sparks was 1-for-3 with four RBIs.

Against Floyd Central, Dierckman excelled both on the mound and at the plate. He turned in 4 2/3 innings of two-hit ball to earn the win, and went 3-for-3 at the dish.

Sinish was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.

Last Tuesday night at Columbia City, the Eagles managed just three hits on the night and committed three errors.

Carroll, ranked No. 9 in the state, set the tone right out of the gate in this one with four runs in the top of the first. The Chargers added four more in the fourth, one in the sixth and three in the top of the seventh for the winning tally.

Daniel Kirk went 2-for-3 to lead a 12-hit Carroll attack, with four runs scored and two RBIs. Gabe Starks was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs, and Sinish went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Thomas Tratnyek was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

Carroll head coach Dave Ginder was happy with the opening day win. “There was a lot of good stuff out there,” Ginder said.

Six Carroll pitchers combined on the shutout, with starter Worrel getting the win.

Columbia City coach Rob Bell said he likes playing a team like Carroll early in the season because it gives him a good barometer of where his team is.

“Dave runs a class program, and his teams are always fundamentally sound,” Bell said. “We have some things to clean up … We’re young, and our youth reared its head a little out there tonight.”

Carroll was scheduled to return to action Tuesday at home against Northrop. The Chargers travel to Penn on Friday. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. against the Kingsmen.