PURCELLVILLE – Purcellville jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two innings Friday night at Fireman’s Field and the Cannons coasted past the Strasburg Express, 11-7, to win Game 1 of the North Division playoffs.
Kaleb Freeman (Georgia State) and Shintaro Inoue (Kansas State) led off the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back singles for the Cannons and Jake Slade (Virginia Tech) walked to load the bases with no outs. With one out, Mitsuki Kohno (Christian Brothers) walked to force in the first run of the game. Inoue scored on a sac fly by Lincoln Pack (West Virginia) before a two-run double by Devyn McEachron (Chattanooga State Tech CC) gave the home team a 4-0 lead.
The Cannons continued to roll in the second inning. Freeman was hit by a pitch and Aiden Aparicio singled before Inoue blasted a three-run homer to make the score 7-0. The Cannons added another run on a wild pitch to lead 8-0.
Starting pitcher Aiden Adams (San Jacinto) went five innings to get the win. Adams allowed three runs on two hits. He struck out six and walked three.
Inoue was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs while Kohno finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
Strasburg was limited to five hits in the game. Gio Mendoza (College of Central Florida) doubled to drive in a pair of runs for the Express.
Game 2 of the series will be played Saturday evening at First Bank Park in Strasburg.