East Stroudsburg South's strategy against Pleasant Valley was simple yet effective.

Knowing a quick start would be key, the Cavaliers seized control of their Mountain Valley Conference contest with the Bears early with dominant pitching and a balanced offensive attack.That combination allowed ES South to hang on for an impressive 10-7 win, giving the Cavaliers their second victory in as many days to open the season."With a team like Pleasant Valley, I know that you have to put the pressure on like that," said first-year Cavaliers' coach Kane Furst. "I thought we did a good job of getting on base…getting guys over…using the hit-and-run."And they got the job done today, which helped us out quite a bit in the long run, getting that lead early on."ES South (2-0, 1-0) took advantage of a slow start by Pleasant Valley right-hander Chris Burke, scoring two runs in the first inning and one in the second to take an early 3-0 lead."He didn't really look comfortable from the start," Pleasant Valley coach Charlie Inserra said of Burke, who threw 75 pitches in just under four innings of work. "We'll try to figure out why that was, but he was just kind of battling himself during those first two innings."I thought he looked better later on. But he just didn't look comfortable from the start and couldn't get himself going."His counterpart, on the other hand, had no trouble finding his groove early on.ES South starter Ryan Nazario held Pleasant Valley (1-2, 1-1) hitless through the first three innings, allowing only Troy VanHouten (walk) and Burke (hit by pitch) to reach base."He's one of those kids that we can trust to go out there and have a solid game," Furst said of Nazario. "No matter what the situation is, he just doesn't get rattled. He's a tough kid."Trailing 7-0, the Bears finally got to Nazario in the fourth inning, as Ariel Mejia broke up the no-hitter with a liner into the outfield.After a Burke walk and Thomas Aruta single loaded the bases, second basemen Adam Raseley roped a two-run single that scored Burke and Mejia to cut the deficit to 7-2.Right fielder Brendan Kearns stepped to the plate next and delivered a two-run single that brought in Aruta and Raseley to trim the Cavaliers' lead to 7-4.But the rally was quelled when ES South answered with three more runs in the top of the fifth to extend its advantage to 10-4.Pleasant Valley had its share of chances over the final three innings. But the Bears left five men on base, including the fifth when they left the bases loaded.Despite the team's offensive struggles near the end of the game, Inserra is pleased with what his team has been able to accomplish at the plate early in the season."Between yesterday and today, we scored 12 runs," he said, referencing Pleasant Valley's 5-0 win against East Stroudsburg North a day earlier. "Obviously, I'm happy about that. Anytime you score five, and then seven, you like your chances."I'd like to think seven runs would get it done most days. And I like the fact that our offense has put together a couple of rallies, which means we're battling. But the name of the game right now is consistency for us."ES South 210 430 0 - 10 12 5Pleasant Vy. 000 411 1 - 7 9 6Nazario, Furst (7) and Hennessy; Burke, Borger (4), Aruta (5), Shank (7) and Shank, Mejia (7). W - Nazario. L - Burke.