Both pitchers were pretty much humming along until the fifth inning.

That’s when Edison small-balled its way to the only run of the ballgame, to get past visiting JFK Friday afternoon, 1-0, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

That turned out to be all the Eagles would need, as senior Paul diPasquale threw seven strong innings – and got out of some late-inning jams to pick up his third win of the season.

Edison (7-2) left five runners on base through the first four innings, but finally cashed in during the bottom of the fifth.

Declan DiCarlo, pinch-hitting for centerfielder Matt Yasko, reached with a leadoff infield hit too deep for Justin Rodriguez – who fielded the ball near the second base bag – to make a throw. Yascko re-entered to run the bases, after after Jaxon Appelman popped out to second, Jordan Martins got aboard with another infield hit, this time to short, again fielded cleanly, but too deep for shortstop Jeremy Ricourt to make a throw.

After Charlie Taub struck out, Paul DiCarlo – the Eagles’ leading hitter at .478 heading into the day, but oh-for-2 coming into the at bat – drove in Yascko with an RBI single.

Yascko was stranded when Anthony Calantoni struck out to end the inning, but again, it was all they would need.

Through the first five innings, diPasquali fanned seven, and had allowed only two baserunners, on a hit and a walk.

He allowed a leadoff double to Grant Lorentzen for JFK (5-4) in the sixth, got Ricourt to fly out, then walked Gabriel Perez to put runners at first and second. But he got Lerentzen erased on a force out fielders’ choice on a ball hit to third, and the defense bailed him out.

Donovan Claiborne hit a laser up the middle into centerfield. Yascko fielded it and threw a strike to the cutoff man, first baseman Jackson Ferrer, who fired his own strike to the plate where catcher Charlie Taub applied the tag in plenty of time to nail Perez trying to score from second, ending the inning.

There would be one more jam in the seventh, as diPasquale stayed in the game to try and nail it down. He gave up a leadoff walk to Justin Rodriguez, but struck out Kevin Portorreal. A single by Braden Mellage led to a sac bunt by Marcus Bullock that advanced Rodriguez to third, but left Matt Cook – a courtesy runner for Mellage – at first.

But with two out and runners on the corners, diPasquale got Lorentzen to fly out to center to end the game.

Click below for postgame reaction brought to you by Sportsplex at Metuchen!