JACKSON TWP — There are several ways a high school baseball team can begin its defense of a district title.

Seneca Valley managed a rather impressive one Friday afternoon.

The Raiders, who won the WPIAL Class AAAA championship last spring, crushed Baldwin 14-3 in five innings at Raider Field.

SV tallied 14 hits in the victory, three of them coming off junior shortstop Sam Fragale's bat.

“Last year, it seemed like it rained all season,” said Fragale, who singled twice and smacked a run-scoring triple in the bottom of the fourth inning. “We had great weather today. It felt amazing to get out and win our first game.”

“From the first pitch of an at-bat to the last pitch, I liked our hitters' approach today,” said Raiders coach Eric Semega. “I was happy with how we attacked. We hit the ball hard.”

The Highlanders grabbed an early 1-0 lead against SV starter Matt Smith, but the Raiders' bats soon got it back and then some.

SV's first five batters reached base in the bottom of the first frame, including Zach Spangler, who laced a two-run single that put the Raiders up 3-1.

Baldwin starter Nick Opferman would not last the inning, being pulled with two outs after surrendering another two-run single to Austin Bream.

Reliever Zach Miske came on to record the final out of the frame, but SV took the field with a commanding 9-1 edge after sending 14 batters to the plate.

Opferman walked three and did not strike out a batter, giving up six hits during his outing.

Also not helping Baldwin's cause were four errors, which gave the Raiders' bats even more opportunities.

“We've been hitting a lot in practice,” said Fragale. “We've spent a lot of time hitting both fastballs and off-speed stuff and it showed today.”

Smith, SV's ace on the mound, left the game after two outs in the second. He was charged with all three of Baldwin's runs, though he did not give up a hit while striking out one and walking four.

“We didn't want him throwing much more than 50 (pitches),” said Semega. “He came out of the game at 54.”

Junior Jason Martin came on and pitched 2Z\c scoreless innings, striking out four and walking none to earn the victory. He struck out the side in the top of the fourth.

“He (Martin) saw some time on the mound for us last year as a sophomore,” said Semega. “He's developed a curveball, so now he has three pitches instead of two (fastball and changeup).”

SV added three runs in the second and two more in the fourth.

SV's Connor Coward worked a scoreless fifth to end the game via the 10-run mercy rule.

Along with Fragale, Brad Gresock, Spangler and Carson Kessler each had a multi-hit game.

Baldwin 120 00x x — 3 3 4Seneca Valley 930 2xx x — 14 14 3W: Jason Martin 2Z\c IP (4K, 0BB).

L: Nick Opferman X\cIP (0K, 3BB).

Baldwin (0-1): Tom McCarthy 1B R, Troy Bell 1B RBI, Christian Holland RBI, Mark Bondi 1B R SB, Nick Bernick R

Seneca Valley (1-0): Jon Dorogy 1B 2R RBI, Brad Gresock 2-1B 3RBI, Sam Fragale 2-1B 3B 2R 3RBI, Austin Bream 1B R 2RBI, Zach Spangler 1B 2B R 2RBI, Carson Kessler 2-1B R RBI, Connor Coward 2B 2R RBI, Dan Barna 1B 2R, Denny Krevokuch R, John Choma 2R, Jason Martin 1B

Tuesday: Seneca Valley at Hampton