When you have depth on your roster, pretty much every move you make as a coach looks solid. And as season openers go, RCSJ Gloucester Baseball Coach Rob Valli pushed all the right buttons in a 13-0 triumph on the road Saturday over a talented Division II Delaware Tech team.

"We did really well -- and for a first day out you never know what to expect in an opening day," noted Valli.

The Roadrunners, the preseason No. 1 team in all national polls, played the part of national championship contender quite well. Valli's team raced out to an early 3-0 lead in the second inning and kept up the pressure in the seven-inning win the No. 19 ranked D II Del Tech squad.

On the pitching side, Jack Billings, Edinson Sanchez, and Angel Cespedes combined for the win allowing only 1 hit and striking out 15.

"We had a cold day so we made up our minds we were going to share the pitching," Valli said. "We kept everyone on a pitch count. When someone hit their count, we handed it off to the next pitcher. And 15 strikeouts against a team like Del Tech is very good."

But it wasn't all about pitching. The opening day lineup launched an 8-hit, 13-run assault on three Del-Tech pitchers, led by lead-off hitter Lorenzo Morello, who collected two hits and two RBIs. Also making major contributions were leftfielder Adam Holland (2 hits, 3 RBIs) and catcher Cole Chesnet (2 hits, 3 RBIs).

Next up for Valli's Runners is a road game at Mercer Community College on Thursday in a 2:30 pm before the squad hosts Atlantic Cape Saturday in their home opener in a doubleheader starting at 12 noon.

Valli expects to return 2 or 3 players from minor injuries, and will continue assessing his formidable lineup.

"I really don't have the lineup figured out yet -- the lineup always sorts itself out, especially with so many new players," Valli noted.