Kieran Kearns brought the heat during the Birches NorCo Legion game against Freemansburg.

Not a single Freemansburg could catch up to his fastball, which helped propel the Birches to a 13-2 win at the Saylorsburg playground on Friday evening.

"I knew I had to be on," said Kearns, a 2017 Pleasant Valley graduate. "You can't be bad with these guys. My fastball was coming in good and the curve ball threw them off pretty well. I didn't throw too many change-ups, but I didn't have to. They're a good ball club. They had some college players and I knew it would be a tough game, but I shut them down."

Kearns mowed down the Freemansburg lineup, striking out six across the first four frames. His curve supplemented his heater, and he fanned 10 by the time the game was called in the middle of the sixth inning due to darkness.

"The only thing I can't understand is why he didn't get looked at by some Division 1 or 2 college scouts," said Birches head coach Allen Faust of Kearns, who will be attending PSU-Harrisburg. "The kids throws everything that he's got; every game and every pitch. He is phenomenal."

Despite giving up two unearned runs in the fifth inning on Birches fielding errors, Kearns was in the midst of a no-hitter until the sixth inning.

Freemansburg's Jared Dancsecs hit a ground ball adjacent to the glove of Birches first baseman Nate Coursey, which sneaked through for a hit. But Kearns fittingly struck out the following batter, which ended the game.

"First-pitch fastballs are the best pitch in the game," said Kearns, who was ahead in the count for most of the contest. "And first-pitch curve balls, if you can get them for strikes, it starts off the at-bats very well. It's great, you get a big lead like that you can sit back and just chuck."

The Birches struck first in the initial frame, and tallied two more in the third for a quick 3-0 advantage.

But the fourth inning is when they poured it on, using five hits and three walks to score six runs, which made it a 9-0 contest.

"In the beginning, we were hitting flyballs, flyballs, and flyballs," Faust said. "We told them all we need is base hits and we'll score a lot of runs. They all came together and took a little off their swing, got the base hits, and here we are, 13-2."

The Birches methodically found ways to score during the fourth-frame sequence.

Dallas Greenzweig, Brett Hardy, and Brent Beck each had RBI singles. Greenzweig also scored on a wild pitch during the spurt. Kearns drew a bases-loaded walk, and Ben Smiley was plunked, which brought home a run.

"Our older kids that played for us last year are solid hitters," Faust said. "The younger kids will come joining in, and that's our strength. We also have speed."

But the Birches weren't done, as they piled on four more in the following inning.

Greenzweig picked up where he left off with a lead-off double, and the next batter was DaKota George, whose double was almost hit to the exact same part of the park in deep left field to score Greenzweig. CJ Peechatka added an RBI triple in the frame, while Hardy and Kearns both drove in runs.

STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM ... Greenzweig, a freshman hitting at the bottom of the Birches order, was near perfect at the plate on Friday. He finished 3-for-3, including two singles, a double, and one RBI. "They just left some pitches over the plate and I hit," he said. "I took a good approach. The guys in front of me saw a lot of pitches, so I got to see a couple and I saw what's going on."

A TURN FOR EVERYONE ... Eight different Birches reached base during the rout. "I thought maybe at the beginning of the year we'd have rocky roads," Faust said. "But we've been together for seven or eight games and everything is falling into place.

Freemansburg 000 020 - 2 1 1

Birches 102 54x - 13 14 2

Connelly and Stuard; Kearns and Greenzweig. W - Kearns. L - Connelly.