High school baseball has offcially begun.

On the Ides of March, Lehighton got a terrific opening day pitching performance from ace Carter Birnbaum, while his teammates figured out ways to manufacture runs.

The result was a 7-1 non-league victory over Palmerton.

Birnbaum was superb with his control, tossing six innings of shutout ball. He struck out three, while allowing just one walk and two singles before exiting the game.

“No question, Carter had a nice opening day,” said Lehighton manager JC Dietz. “He’s a senior who knows how to pitch. He beat a pretty good team today.”

Throwing strikes certainly played a big role in that.

Carter threw 70 pitches and 49 were for strikes. He never struggled and was in retirement mode, allowing only three base runners until giving way to Jake Lewis to start the seventh.

Meanwhile, the Tribe pounded out nine hits with Mike Yeakel and Adam “Bones” Bastone leading the way. Yeakel slapped out a triple and a single, while Bastone added a double and single. Brady O’Donnell chipped in two singles.

Palmerton had three hits, including a seventh-inning solo home run from Camron Pengelly.

The Tribe jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the home first when John Light singled, stole second and scored on an error.

The Indians then went silent until the home fourth when they pushed across two unearned runs for a 3-0 lead.

Lehighton added two more runs in the fifth. Bastone got things started with a single. O’Donnell also singled before back-to-back walks forced in one run. An error allowed another to cross the plate. The Bombers avoided a big inning, when Cole Dietz hit a stinger to third which ended up in a double play thanks to Pengelly who snagged the liner and stepped on third.

“We put our bats on the balls, especially the bottom half of our order,” said manager Dietz. “But Palmerton made some plays when they had to to keep it close early on. They are a tough team to open with.”

Lehighton tacked on its final two runs in the home sixth when Bastone scalded a double to right to plate Aiden Rarick who drew a leadoff walk. Bastone came around to score on a groundout.

“We had our share of shaky moments out there,” said Palmerton manager Tyler Svetik. “Defensively we had some let downs.”

SMOOTH … Both teams have quality shortstops. The Indians’ Rarick has been a mainstay for three years and can field with the best. Same can be said of Palmerton’s Jason Carrelli.

COVERING GROUND … Indian outfielders – Dawson Keiser, Bastone and Yaekel - are very good at tracking down fly outs. They are also fundamentally sound.

QUICK WORK … Home plate umpire Jeffrey Erri and base ump Dave “Whitey” Williams did a solid job of making calls and keeping the game moving along as the opener was played in a efficient one hour and 50 minutes.

Palmerton 000 000 1 - 1 3 4

Lehighton 100 222 x - 7 9 2

Grammes, George (5), Reph (5) and Borger; Birnbaum, Lewis (7) and Light. W - Birnbaum. L - Grammes. HR: Palmerton - (Pengelly, 7th, none on).