Randy Collins had to wait a while to make his debut as Karns City's head varsity baseball coach.

His Gremlins made that wait worth it.

Derek Sadowski and Ethan Williams combined on a two-hitter Tuesday night as Karns City defeated North Clarion, 13-1, in a mutual season opener at Pullman Park.

The game occurred 12 days after the season was scheduled to begin. It was played in bone-chilling temperatures.

“That's OK with us. It felt good just to get out of the gym,” Collins said.

At least Karns City has had a handful of outdoor practices. North Clarion hasn't been able to get on its field at all.

The Gremlins fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first as Jeremy Schmader began the game with a single up the middle and eventually scored on Josh Bauer's sacrifice fly.

From there, it was all downhill for the Wolves.

“If you can beat a team in hot weather, you should be able to beat that team in cold weather,” North Clarion coach Paul Zacherl said. “We gave them way too many runs tonight. We just haven't gotten much work in and it showed.

“We didn't pitch well, but our defense didn't help those guys and we let them run around the bases all night.”

By the time the five-inning game ended, North Clarion had walked 11 batters, hit two others, thrown six wild pitches and allowed six stolen bases.

Every player in Karns City's lineup either scored a run or knocked one in.

“That's what you like to see,” Collins said. “We had a lot of good at bats from top to bottom in our lineup.”

Brian Best, Brandon Bowser and Sadowski had two RBI each. Best and Williams had two singles each.

Brad Fuhrer legged out a double to the left-center gap to begin the Gremlins' first inning. That was the only extra-base hit of the game.

North Clarion returns only two starters from last year. Karns City returns a veteran lineup from a 2010 District 9 runner-up finish.

“I thought our pitchers would be better prepared tonight,” Zacherl said. “Still, it was so cold out here, it's tough to evaluate. I still feel like we have a team that can get to the playoffs.”

The Gremlins are already headed in that direction.

Sadowski threw 64 pitches in three innings and struck out five. Williams fanned three in his two innings of work.

“Both of those guys threw well,” Collins said. “This was a nice start for us.”

Karns City stranded 10 runners in four innings, leaving the bases loaded three times. North Clarion starter Josh Bauer threw 64 pitches in just two innings before being lifted.

North Clarion 100 00x x — 1 2 4Karns City 255 1xx x — 13 7 1W: Derek Sadowski 3IP (5K, 3BB).

L: Josh Bauer 2IP (1K, 4BB).

North Clarion (0-1): Jeremy Schmader 1B, Brett Weaver 1B, Josh Bauer RBI

Karns City (1-0): Brad Fuhrer 2B 2-R, Brian Best 2-1B 2-RBI, Zach Barney 3-R, Brad Francis 2-R, Zach Kepple 2-R, Ethan Williams 2-1B RBI 2-R, Brandon Bowser 1B 2-RBI, Derek Sadowski 1B 2-RBI

Thursday: Karns City at Venango Catholic