FAIRVIEW — The Karns City baseball team was patient at the plate and aggressive on the base paths.

It was a lethal combination for the Gremlins, who hit a lot and ran even more in a 15-5, five-inning home win over Union Thursday.

"Hey, they hit the ball," said Union coach Doug Kriebel. "It didn't matter who I threw at them."

Union threw three pitchers at Karns City (8-5 overall, 7-4 in the KSAC) with similar results.

The Gremlins, who turned their focus to making contact at the plate and cutting down their swings with two strikes, hit everything hard on the way to 14 hits.

Heading into the game, Karns City had struck out far too often this season, said coach Travis Twentier.

"We discussed cutting down on strikeouts and just putting the ball in play," Twentier said. "The last few games we have really preached that and by making contact, good things will happen. We only had three strikeouts today."

When the Karns City hitters did reach base — and they reached base a lot — they wreaked havoc.

The Gremlins swiped 11 bases and moved up on four wild pitches and two passed balls.

Seven players stole at least one base for Karns City.

"In high school baseball, if you put pressure on the other team, you are going to win games," Twentier said. "That's what we try to do. We have some team speed and that certainly helps out."

Union (3-8) was nearly powerless to stop the thefts.

"They were aggressive and you have to tip your hat to them for that," Kriebel said.

Karns City pitcher Brian Best overcame a rough beginning of the game to earn the win.

Best gave up five runs — only one earned — and five hits in the first two innings as Union jumped out to an early 5-3 lead.

But after the second inning, Best allowed only one hit and three base runners.

Best used a knee-buckling curveball and a sneaky fastball to cruise through the final three innings.

There was no cruising for any of the three Union pitchers.

Trent Corle started and picked up the loss. Rich Corle relieved him in the bottom of the third inning after the Gremlins had stormed ahead 9-5.

Rich Corle gave up a run in the fourth before yielding to Taylor Smith in the fifth. Karns City scored five times in the frame to end the game.

Brad Fuhrer went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI, and Zach Kepple went 3-for-4 with a double for the Gremlins.

Karns City won three games this week with limited pitching available and are in the thick of the playoff chase in the KSAC.

"Any time you win three games in a week, you have to be happy," Twentier said. "We have three more games next week. Hopefully, we can find a way to keep it going."

Union 140 00x x — 5 6 2Karns City 315 15x x — 15 14 4One out when mercy rule run scoredW: Brian Best 5 IP (5 K, 1 BB).

L: Trent Corle 2 2/3 IP (2 K, 2 BB).

Union (3-8): Brennan Bliss 2-1B RBI, Trent Corle 2B RBI

Karns City (8-5, 7-4): Eric McCue 2-1B 2-SB, Best 2-1B 2-SB RBI, Brad Fuhrer 2B 1B 3-RBI, Zach Kepple 2B 2-1B RBI, Nate Christy 2-1B, Tyler Slagle 2-SB, Cole Rottman 2-1B 2-RBI

Monday: Moniteau at Union

Tuesday: Redbank Valley at Karns City