SPRING GROVE -- When Carson Fries was in eighth grade, he used to watch his older brother, Tucker, a senior, play third base for West York's baseball team.

On Thursday afternoon, the roles were reversed.

Tucker was in the stands, and Carson, a sophomore, was the starting third baseman for the Bulldogs.

Carson was also wearing the same number that Tucker wore during his high school days -- No. 28.

"He kept it after his senior year, and he told me he wanted me to wear it," Carson said. "So he passed it down. Having my brother here to watch after I watched him is a great thing."

The older Fries was a standout player on a Bulldogs' team that placed second in the District 3 Class AAA Tournament and advanced to the state playoffs. The younger Fries hopes to play in a state tournament game some day, too. Right now, though, he's busy carving out quite a career of his own for the Blue and White.

Carson crushed the ball at a .429 clip during his freshman year, and in Thursday's game, Fries went 3-for-4 and drove in four runs as West York belted Spring Grove, 12-4, in a York-Adams League crossover game.

"We take a lot of BP (batting practice), and I get a lot of quality swings in," Carson Fries said, explaining his success at the plate. "But wherever I hit (in the lineup) and whatever position I play (Fries was a shortstop last year), I just want to help the team."

The team took a collective hit on Tuesday, losing 7-3 to South Western while committing seven errors.

With star pitcher Kaden Hepler on the mound and the bats booming, the Bulldogs rebounded in a big way on Thursday. West York pounded out 14 hits and put together two five-run innings against Rockets' pitching.

Hepler, meanwhile, who has earned an NCAA Division I college scholarship to Winthrop (S.C.) University, checked Spring Grove on one run in six innings. The right-hander struck out 11 and limited the home team to four hits, two of which didn't leave the infield.

Hepler mixed his fastball with a curveball, slider and changeup. He threw 94 pitches, walked only two batters and supported his own cause with three hits.

"I felt like I had good movement on my off-speed pitches, and my fastball was getting in there pretty quick," Hepler said. "We played good team ball today, and this was big for us to get back in the winning column."

West York coach Roger Czerwinski also put his stamp of approval on the overall performance.

"Coming back from the deflating loss on Tuesday, I was really impressed with the way we came out with an aggressive approach and certainly swung the bats," Czerwinski said. "Keep in mind that they (Spring Grove) had two kids in the lineup who we faced last year. They were new, they were young, but they're going to win a lot of games."

West York's aggressive approach extended to base running. The Bulldogs forced overthrows on two occasions while stealing bases. In addition, they looked to take the extra base whenever possible.

"Are we going to get thrown out sometimes? Sure. But I think more good things happen from that aggressive approach than sitting around waiting for the long ball," Czerwinski said. "We're not good enough to just go out and hit long balls."

Jerrin Toomey and Brandon Kinneman added two hits apiece for West York. Toomey ripped the ball hard two other times, being retired on liners to the shortstop and center fielder.

The Bulldogs improved to 2-1, and the Rockets slipped to 2-1.

OTHER BASEBALL

RED LION 5, KENNARD- DALE 4: At Red Lion, the Lions rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh to capture the York-Adams cross-over victory. Tyler Myers drove home the tying run on a triple to plate Evan Bittner, who singled earlier in the inning. Then, with one out, an intentional walk was issued to Drew Landis. Scott Rissler then hit a ground ball that the Rockets were unable to handle to score Myers from third for the winning run. Myers went 2-for-4, while Bittner and Landis each went 2-for-3. Rissler a freshman, picked up the win on the mound in relief of Landis. Rissler had four strikeouts and no walks to give him his first high school win. For the Rams, pitcher Matt Belt pitched a complete game, striking out 12 and walking three. Teammate Joe Zeller went 2-for-3 at the plate.

EASTERN YORK 6, DELONE CATHOLIC 1: At Wrightsville, Eastern's Terry Godfrey cooled off the red-hot Delone bats, pitching a complete-game four-hitter. He fanned five and walked one. Delone had scored 25 runs in its first two games. James Guiseppe homered and drove in three runs for Eastern.

CENTRAL YORK 5, NEW OXFORD 3: At Central, the Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 first-inning lead and never looked back. Dan Sepic got the win, pitching 61/3 innings and giving up just four hits. He also had two hits, including a triple. Tyler Lingg and Billy Fritsch worked out of a seventh-inning jam to close the win. Fritsch got the save. Jordan Chicannias had two hits and reached base three times for Central.

YORK TECH 9, YORK SUBURBAN 7: At Suburban, Hunter Weibley and Brando Sixtos each had three hits and three RBIs to lift the Spartans. Tyler Brown added three hits and two RBIs. Tech used four-run rallies in the second and fifth innings to earn the win. Brennan Weinstein had two hits, including a homer, to go with two RBIs and two runs scored for Suburban. Cyrus Tome got the win for Tech.

YORK HIGH 8, NORTH EASTERN 7: The host Bearcats went into the bottom of the sixth tied at 7-7. Jeff Peralta led off with a double and Roberto Rosado (2-for-3, three RBIs) followed with an RBI single up the middle to bring home the game-winning run. Josh Writer (3-for-4, home run, two RBIs) and Jordan Ely (2-for-4, RBI) paced the Bobcats.

SOUTH WESTERN 7, DOVER 6: At Hanover, Parker Bean's two-run double in the bottom of the seventh capped a three-run rally and lifted South Western to victory. Bishop Elder added an RBI double in the late rally.

SUSQUEHANNOCK 7, YORK CATHOLIC 4: At Glen Rock, Alex Coombes went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Sam Silverman went 2-for-3 with two runs scored for Susquehannock. Pat Clement went 4-for-4 for York Catholic.

Reach Dick VanOlinda at dvanolinda@yorkdispatch.com.