Varney struck out the side in the top of the first, but outs didn’t come as easy in the second. Lawrence (5-3) coach Rusty Mercier noted that Varney was pitching “backwards” in the first inning, throwing more off-speed pitches than fastballs.

“We just said, ‘Shorten up, put the ball in play’ and the second inning is where we got a lot of good at-bats,” Mercier said.

Varney flashed his glove for the first out of the second, snagging a bouncer and tossing to first base for the put-out. Then Braden Ballard lined a double down the first-base line to get the Bulldogs offense going. Josh Dow drove Ballard in with a single to right, and an error and another single loaded the bases. Jacob Bickford drove home another run with a single, then Kolby Lawrence hit a sacrifice grounder back to Varney to bring home the third run.

“I think that he might have been finding a little too much of the white of the plate, and they were being aggressive,” EL coach Dave Jordan said of Varney. “I think they were jumping on the straight stuff in the second inning.”

Ballard pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the second, but the Red Eddies (8-0) hitters got to him the third. Kyle Romero led off with a single, then a walk and a hit batter quickly loaded the bases. Tyler Blanchard followed with an RBI single, then two batters later Drew Lashua hit a ground-rule double that glanced off Konnor Adams’ glove in left to drive in two more runs and tie the game.

Then Varney stepped to the plate and grounded a single past Dow at shortstop to bring in two runs and give the Red Eddies the lead for good.

“I was just trying to find something on the ground so I could get the runner from third in so we could get that lead,” Varney said. “Happened to be that I got a base hit out of it.”

The Red Eddies sent 10 batters to the plate in the third and completely changed momentum in the game.

“It was really big to give (Brandon) some confidence, give him some more runs to work with,” Lashua, who caught for Varney, said. We knew we were going to have a better inning after that.”

The EL senior hurler, who is the Red Eddies’ normal starting catcher, allowed just a single runner in each of the next three innings. Even as his pitch count began to rise he was still able to get the better of the Bulldog hitters.

“I have the nickname as ‘The Rubber Arm,’ so I was feeling great throughout the whole game,” Varney said.

His run support grew by two in the fourth. Edward Little No. 9 hitter CJ Jipson led off the frame by reaching on a fielding error by third baseman Brandon Hill, who then threw the ball away to let Jipson get to second. A pair of wild pitches then brought him home before Austin Cox could follow with a single. Lashua later drove Cox in with a sacrifice fly.

Varney called the run support he received “fantastic.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Varney said. “I knew we were going to hit the ball.”

Jordan said Monday wasn’t his team’s best offensive effort, but the bats did what they needed to when they they needed to.

“We’ve had some big innings this year. I think the guys are pretty confident if they stay the course they’re going to get the bat on the ball,” Jordan said.

That four-run lead was an asset for Varney while trying to close out the game in the seventh. Three straight batters reached with two outs to load the bases, but after a conference on the mound led by Jordan, Varney struck out Ballard looking to end the game.

“I didn’t have any pressure,” Varney said. “I knew I had a decent enough lead where I just needed to induce a ground ball or a flyout and I’d get us right out of it.”

The Red Eddies remain undefeated halfway through the regular season. Jordan said the traits his team showed Monday are the reason why EL has yet to lose.

“When you get good pitching, good defense and some timely hitting it’s usually a recipe for success,” Jordan said.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

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