Catasauqua head baseball coach Steve Bradley breathed a sigh of relief.

He watched his team grind out an eighth-inning, 10-9 victory over Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg in their season opener in which the Rough Riders rallied for six runs over the final two innings.

The Roughies took advantage of seven Notre Dame errors.

“It wasn’t easy,” stressed Bradley. “But our kids never gave up, and they kept pushing. It is a credit to them. We like the fact that we can score runs, but we don’t want to get involved in more of these types of games.

“It was crazy.”

Junior J.D. Martinez had an infield single that plated Christian Fye with the winning run. Fye had doubled to be in scoring position.

The Roughies were handcuffed by Notre Dame pitcher Kevin Dillon, who had 14 strikeouts and issued four hits and two runs over six innings. But Dillon had to leave after six because of the 100-pitch count rule.

Senior Brandon Jenny started the game for the Roughies. He struck out 10, allowed seven hits, and three runs. Jenny was forced to leave due to the pitch count rule, and he was replaced by Fye.

Sophomore John Pushkar pitched the final three innings, allowing three runs, two hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

“Jenny threw well,” added Bradley. “Their starting pitcher was very good, and their second pitcher did a nice job too. We just kept plugging away.”

Fye, senior Wes Fotta, freshman Matt Fotta, and junior Bryann Rivera each had two hits for Catty. Pushkar and Fye had two RBIs apiece.

The Roughies have home games with Palmerton Monday (canceled due to cold), Pen Argyl Wednesday, and then travel to Lehighton Saturday.

“We like our pitching,” said Bradley. “We have some young guys who have to step up, and we have to hit consistently.”