PLAINSBORO — Though they play seven, one inning can make a difference in a high school baseball game. Such was the case in the third inning Friday at David J. Bachner Field. That frame saw the visitors from the Peddie School send 11 men to the plate and score five times (all with two outs), while the hosts from West Windsor-Plainsboro High North got runners to second and third base with one out, yet could not push any runs across. Sparked by their success in that one inning, the Falcons held on for a 7-4 win over the Northern Knights in a game that seemed as though it could go either way. “Our coaches told us we need to come out with more energy,” WW-P North senior outfielder/right-handed pitcher Will Carter said. “We were a little asleep to start the game. We had one bad inning early, and it cost us.” That third inning was key because Knights’ starting pitcher Brian Lu had gotten through the first two innings having allowed just one hit and two walks. The junior right-hander got the first two hitters to pop out in the third before Peddie sophomore Jonathan Stizza doubled off a 3-1 pitch to ignite a rally. Catcher Eduard Fernandez and opposing pitcher Brody Buchner followed with singles (Fernandez’ driving in a run) before consecutive walks to Jaden Heble, Mason Kish and Haruo Narita pushed across two more runs. When Carter replaced Lu on the mound at that point, Evan Treese singled in another run before an error gave the visitors a 5-0 lead. No worries. WW-P North, which had only managed a double by Casey Daigneault off Buchner through the first two innings, opened the bottom of the third with Aditya Shinde drawing a leadoff walk and Carter singling to right field with the top of the order coming to the plate. Though junior right-handed pitcher Buchner struck out Chase Lau, a ball got away at the plate that moved both runners into scoring position. In his third year as a varsity pitcher, Buchner used the situation to fuel him, reaching back to catch Daigneault and Conor Sattiraju looking at called third strikes to keep the home team scoreless. “That inning I was not happy because I had walked the No. 8 hitter, then the No. 9 batter got a hit,” said Buchner, who went on to strike out four in a row. “It was my first outing in a while, so it felt really good to get out of it.” Buchner, who got stronger in the offseason, was on a 50-pitch limit for his first outing. During his stint, he struck out six, walked just the one and surrendered two hits. “He’s good,” said Carter, who led WW-P North’s offense by going 2-for-3 with a run scored and another run batted in. In doing so, Carter joined Stizza, Buchner, Narita and Treese with two hits apiece for Peddie. “We’re trying to build off of last year,” Carter said, remembering how the Northern Knights went 12-13 in 2024. They showed life in the fifth inning after Buchner had left the mound in favor of sophomore left-hander Nick Famularo. Evan Knepper was hit by a pitch to start the frame, then moved to second on a balk. Shinde singled to put runners at the corners before Carter knocked in Knepper. Lau then followed with a three-run home run to left field that made the game interesting the rest of the way with Sattiraju pitching three solid innings in relief. But freshman right-handed pitcher Mason Kish took over for the last two innings on the hill for the Falcons and retired the home team in order to earn the save and give Peddie, which only won five times in 2024, a victory in its opening game of 2025. Peddie (1-0)              005      110    0    —    7  12  1 WW-P North (1-1)     000      040    0    —    4    6  2 2B: Stizza, Piepszak (P), Daigneault, Satav (WWN); HR: Lau (WWN); RBIs: Fernandez, Buchner, Kish, Narita, Treese (P), Carter, Lau 3 (WWN). WP — Buchner (1-0); LP — Lu (0-1); S — Kish (1). ...read more read less