By PHILLIP STEINMETZ sports@newsandtribune.com
JEFFERSONVILLE — The 8th-ranked Jeffersonville Red Devils welcomed Fort Wayne Carroll to Don Poole Field Friday night for the their season opener Friday and found a way to come away with a hard-fought victory.

Jeffersonville started its ace sophomore pitcher, Gabe Bierman., who had eight strikeouts, allowed three hits and only walked one while picking up the win. His pitching kept the Chargers on their toes but he had quite a bit of help from the defense behind him.

“I was hitting my spots very well. Mainly my curveball and fastball were a factor, both with good velocity,” he said. “Glad I have a great defense behind my back to make plays..”

For most of the game Jeff was unable to bring people home who got on base. The Carroll defense was strong the entire evening and went without an error.

The Chargers got on the board first in the third inning. It started with a double then an error by third baseman Cam Northern allowed the runner to score.

The Carroll lead almost widened during the top of the fifth inning. It started with Bierman allowing a double and hitting a Charger. Jeff elected to intentionally walk the next batter, and with only one out, Carroll looked prime to add to its lead. Bierman was able to get Jeff out of the jam.

In the bottom of the fifth is where the Jeff bats came alive. Senior Jordan Thomas got a rally started with a single down the right-field line. Senior Drew Campbell then launched a bomb over the right field fence to put the Red Devils on top.

“The game went real well,” senior Ian Ellis said. “Of course there’s going to be the Opening Day jitters to begin with, but when we got down, nobody panicked. Gabe went out and threw a gem. Drew came up with a big hit, which happened to be the deciding factor.”

Jeremiah Phelps put the game away for the Devils in the seventh inning, striking out two batters to get his first save of the season.

“Getting the win against Carroll was a good way to start the season,” Campbell said. “We have some work to do, but I know we’ll get everything going. As long as we help our pitchers out by putting up runs, we’ll have a good year.”

The Devils travel to Austin today before a big showdown with rival Floyd Central on Wednesday.

JEFFERSONVILLE 2 CARROLL 1

Carroll 001 000 0—1 3 0

Jeffersonville 000 020 0—2 5 2

W — Gabe Bierman (1-0). L — Jake Ostrowski (0-1). S — Jordan Thomas. 2B — Jeremiah Phelps (J), Drew Campbell (J), Bailey Falkenstein (J), Riley Perlich ©, Grant Henschel ©. HR — Campbell (Jeff). Records — Carroll 0-1, Jeffersonville 1-0.