PREP BASEBALL Struthers captures backyard battle, 7-5

The Wildcats defeated Campbell for their third win of the season.
STRUTHERS -- When backyard rivals meet, no one worries about records.
Despite being seven games below .500, the Struthers High baseball team was the better squad in the Wildcats' game against Campbell Thursday at Cene Park.
Junior Chris Kadvan pitched the first 6 1/3 innings to pick up the victory as Struthers (3-9) defeated the Red Devils (6-6), 7-5.
Kadvan allowed five runs on nine hits, with three strikeouts and two walks.
Joel Lariccia picked up the save. Lariccia also had three hits and drove in two runs.
"It's pretty nice [to defeat Campbell]," Struthers coach Mike Donatelli said. "It is such a rivalry and the kids just played hard for both teams."
Campbell led early
Early on, the Red Devils took charge. Louie Samonas opened the game with a single and stole second base.
Frazier Tirikos singled to put runners on the corners and Nick Durkin singled to score the first run.
After a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third bases, Lonnie McQueen hit a sacrifice fly to give the Red Devils a 2-0 advantage.
Samonas doubled to start the third inning and scored the third Campbell run on a sacrifice fly by Durkin.
Dave Mathews started the Struthers third inning by drawing a walk. After a single by Mike Barone, Mike Galetta and Mike Duponty walked to score one run.
A single by Lariccia scored run number two and the tying run scored on a double-play groundball.
Wildcats pull ahead
In the bottom of the fifth inning with one out, Galletta doubled to center field. Duponty tripled to center field, giving the Wildcats a 4-3 lead.
Lariccia singled to score Duponty. After Jim Kreibel singled, Rob Mistovich doubled into the left-field corner to chase home the final two runs.
"All the [pitches] were high today -- you can't do that in this game," Campbell coach Wayne Zetts said. "Struthers is a good hitting team. They did not get cheated with their swings today."
Misses opportunity
Campbell (6-6) had a chance to tie the game in the seventh inning. With one out, Trikios connected for his third hit, a double inside the bag at third.
Durkin reached on an infield single and Antoni Zembillas tripled up the alley in right-center field to score two runs.
Lariccia relieved Kadvan and struck out McQueen swinging. After walking Ryan Burton, Bigley struck out looking to end the game.
"This is the first time since he was a freshman that [Kadvan] has come out," Donatelli said.
"He had arm problems last year and has been working real hard for us.
"We have been struggling at the plate all year with runners on, and today we came through," Donatelli said.
Bobby Switka (1-1) took the loss for Campbell as he relieved Durkin in the fourth inning.
"We had opportunities throughout the game, but we have to get somebody to step up for this team," Zetts said.