CREEKSVILLE – What a difference good pitching can make.

Northampton-East right-hander Jon Lee hurled a one-hitter while the Rams took advantage of 12 walks during a 13-1 rout of county rival Northampton-West here Thursday afternoon.

For the Rams, the win was their fifth straight as they improved to 6-3 in Tar-Roanoke Conference action and 7-11 overall.

“Jon pitched a superb game for us,” Rams head coach Rick Heckler said afterwards. “We’re playing a lot better now. We are showing enthusiasm and having fun.”

The fun started early for the Rams on this day as East tallied five runs off two hits in their first at-bat. There, Jermaine Deloatch legged out an infield single, stole second and third and raced home on Jordan White’s RBI groundout. Lee then reached after being hit by a pitch and he proceeded to swipe second and third before scoring on a wild pitch. After consecutive walks to Carson Hilliard, Matt Murphy and Dwayne Deloatch to load the bases, Jesse Bridgers stepped to the plate and delivered a two-run single to centerfield. D. Deloatch held third on the play and scored on a wild pitch to stake the Rams to a quick 5-0 lead.

Northampton-West scored their only run and had their only hit of the game in the top of the second thanks to Kenneth Zorn’s RBI double.

The Rams then put the game away in the bottom of the third, scoring four times to pad their lead to 9-1. D. Deloatch walked, stole second and third and scored on Bridgers’ RBI groundout. Richard Beam started the cycle again as he drew a free pass followed by J. Deloatch (error) and Greg Outland (walk) to pack the sacks full of Rams. Another walk, this one to White, forced home one run while J. Deloatch scored on a wild pitch. Lee was hit by pitch to reload the bases, setting the table for Outland to score on Hilliard’s RBI infield single.

Northampton-East plated their final four runs in the bottom of the fourth. After D. Deloatch reached on an error, Mike Chambers and J. Deloatch drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Outland then walked, forcing home D. Deloatch followed by Chambers scoring on White’s RBI groundout. Lee finally got a chance to swing the bat rather than being hit by a pitch and his effort resulted in a two-run single to left that ended the scoring.