Hart Continues to Roll With 1st-Round Sweep

Behind the solid pitching efforts of starters Jason Edwards and Keith Halcovich, the Hart Colt team swept a doubleheader Wednesday in the opening round of the Junior Olympic Baseball Super Series.

Edwards, a Times All-Valley right-hander who will be a senior at Hart High, threw a complete-game two-hitter in the opener, a 7-1 win over Midland, Ohio. Halcovich, who will be a sophomore at Hart, pitched 5 innings in the second game, a 2-1 win over Montgomery, Ala.

Hart, which won the Colt World Series last week, faces host Youngstown at 5 p.m. today in the five-team, round-robin tournament that concludes Sunday.

Edwards collected three hits and drove in two runs in the opener. His double in the second inning drove home Darin Tsukashima and keyed a three-run rally. Edwards, who struck out five and walked two, also singled home a run in the fourth.

“Edwards was excellent,” Hart Coach Regis Malone said. “He went the distance, threw his off-speed pitches for strikes and he obviously hit well.”

In the second game, Halcovich allowed six hits, walked one and struck out one before he was relieved by Tsukashima in the sixth. Halcovich got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first via a double play.

Anthony Chessani pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the save.

Chessani, who started at third base, sparked Hart’s two-run rally in the fourth with a leadoff single. After stealing second, he scored on a base hit by Kevin Milligan. Milligan scored on Jay Sanford’s single.

Chessani is the scheduled starter today against Youngstown.