ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The pitcher’s mound is 59 feet from the rear of home plate to the center of the diamond. The bases are 90 feet apart. However, a game of baseball can be decided by mere inches.

Such was the case Thursday afternoon at cloud-covered Memorial Park as St. Clairsville finished off a home-and-home sweep of Union Local, 6-2. It claimed a 15-0 triumph Wednesday in Morristown.

A botched double-play by the Jets allowed the Red Devils (2-1) to score four runs in the bottom of the first inning and they never looked back as Kyle Storer was solid on the mound.

After the senior fanned two in retiring Union Local in order to start the contest, Broc Crist drew a leadoff walk. Matthew Busby’s grounder to short was fielded by Cody Morrison, however, his throw to second was dropped. The next four batters recorded RBI hits and it was quickly 4-0. Storer, Dustin Carrothers and Peyton Drake all singled in runs. Jacob Jarvis doubled in the other.

“We capitalized on their mistake with some clutch hitting,” veteran St. Clairsville head coach Tom Sliva said. “We ran the bases well. We hit the ball well and I thought we were aggressive in building the lead. After that I thought we got a little lackadaisical.”

Storer drove in his second run of the game with a second-inning single that plated Busby, who had tripled leading off. Jarvis ripped his second two-bagger to left-center as Storer chugged home to make it 6-0.

Union Local threatened in the third as it loaded the bases with one out as it bunched three of its five hits off Storer. Following the second out, Dakota Hess sent a liner to right that appeared headed for the corner until rightfielder Derek Witsberger made a nice running catch to end the rally.

“Kyle was the difference. He kept us in the game,” Sliva said. “He did a great job of pitching and we made a couple of key defensive plays behind him.”

Jets’ second-year skipper Wade Smolira was upbeat despite the setback.

“We had chances to make plays and get out of the first two innings. We need to learn to make those plays to get us over the hump,” he recalled. “Then we left the bases loaded and left runners on second and third one time.

“Once we settled down tonight, we did alright,” he added. “We need to stay focused for seven innings.”

A silver lining for UL is it doesn’t have to face St. Clairsville again this season.

“That helps,” Smolira said while chuckling.

Jarvis paced the Red Devils’ 9-hit attack with a single and two doubles that produced a pair of runs. Storer helped his cause with two hits and two ribbies.

Kaden Koscoe picked up an RBI in the fourth for UL on a groundout, while Morrison doubled in the other in the fifth. However, he was thrown out at the plate by Drake trying to score on a single to left by Hess.

St. Clairsville visits the Niekro Diamond in Brookside to play host Martins Ferry. Union Local heads to Barnesville today.