During the offseason, members of the Karns City baseball team could be found taking live batting practice in the cage tucked inside the school gymnasium.

The exposure to live pitching honed the Gremlins' batting eye.

That was in full display against North Clarion at Pullman Park Thursday night.

Karns City saw 136 pitches and drew 14 walks in four innings on the way to a 15-4 win.

“We worked a lot on live pitching during the open gyms in the offseason,” said Karns City coach Randy Collins. “I think that contributes a lot to the eye these guys have right now. They saw real pitching, not machine pitching.”

Karns City's offense was like a machine, however.

The Gremlins sent nine batters to the plate in all four innings.

Tyler Kepple drew three walks and scored three runs and Zach Moore had four RBI, including a bases-loaded triple in the third that blew the game wide open.

Moore's triple was to the opposite field. That was key because Moore was pull-happy last season.

“That was huge for him,” Collins said. “We've been working with him on not rolling over and pulling everything. Going the opposite way was awesome to see from him.”

Moore, a right-handed hitter, said the change in approach was easy once he committed to it.

“I was pulling everything left,” Moore said. “I had to wait for the ball to get deeper in the zone and just go with it. I'm using the whole field now.”

Kepple picked up the win, striking out six in three innings of work. He struggled in the second, giving up three runs, but settled down for a 1-2-3 third before exiting.

Freshman Holden Martin came in and struck out four of the seven batters he faced. He did walk a batter and hit another in giving up one run in the fifth, but he was impressive in his debut.

“Martin has some power,” Collins said. “He has a little control issue, but it's good to have a little inaccuracy from time to time because it keeps the batters on their toes.”

Cody Sherbine got the loss for North Clarion. The right-hander walked six in one inning of work. The other two Wolves' pitchers had similar control issues.

Patience at the plate, though, may be one of the Gremlins' hallmarks this season.

“Leading off is probably my favorite thing to do,” said Nathan Weckerly, who had plenty of opportunities to lead off Thursday, starting off each of the Gremlins' four innings at the plate. “We're all patient hitters. I like getting on and getting things started for us”

North Clarion 030 01x x — 4 3 2

Karns City 444 3xx x — 15 8 1

W: Tyler Kepple 3IP (6K, 2BB). L: Cody Sherbine 1IP (1K, 6BB).

North Clarion (0-1): Dylan Young 1B, Sherbine 1B 2-RBI, Nick Banner 1B RBI

Karns City (2-0): Mike Riley 1B, Kepple 3-BB 3-R, Matt Yough 2-1B 2-RBI, Wyatt Everetts 2-1B 3-RBI, Scott Kiser 2-1B 2-RBI, Zach Moore 3B 4-RBI,

Saturday: Keystone vs. Karns City at Pullman Park, 4 p.m.