When he says somebody hits the ball harder than anybody he’s ever coached, it means something.

Despite having coached Gavin Borrello for just one season, Janisch feels that way about his senior leadoff hitter.

Borrello doubled twice, walked and scored two runs to lead No. 5 Silver Creek/Forestville to a 6-0 win over No. 12 Cassadaga Valley in Section VI Class C prequarterfinal action Monday.

The Black Knights will now have to travel to No. 4 Holland for a quarterfinal game this afternoon after the Dutchmen beat No. 13 Randolph 12-6 in another Monday prequarterfinal.

Cassadaga Valley’s Hunter Johnson delivers to the plate during Monday’s Section VI Class C prequarterfinal in Silver Creek. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

Silver Creek/Forestville scored six runs in the first two innings, which was plenty of support for Cade Neubauer. The senior right-hander threw a four-hitter with 14 strikeouts en route to the shutout.

“He’s done a good job of keeping within himself so that he can continue onward,” Janisch said.

Neubauer threw 66 of his 87 pitches for strikes, keeping him under the 102-pitch threshold to stay eligible for a possible Thursday semifinal should Silver Creek/Forestville get past Holland this afternoon.

“The whole idea is you have to have at least two pitchers,” Janisch said. “That’s what we’ve got and that’s what we’re going to ride.”

Neubauer struck out two Cougars in both the first and second innings before striking out the side — all looking — in the third inning. He added another strikeout in the fourth inning before two more in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

The Cougars’ Kyle Ingersoll catches a pop-up. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“What Gavin does isn’t often seen by most people. He’s a very, very good catcher for pitchers to throw to,” Janisch said of Neubauer’s senior batterymate who transferred from Frontier this year. “Obviously he will throw the ball around and make other teams recognize that you better be somewhat close to the bases.”

The Black Knights jumped on Cassadaga Valley starter Hunter Johnson from the get-go. Borrello walked to open the game, then stole second and went to third when the throw went into center field. Shawn Kelly followed with a sacrifice fly and Silver Creek/Forestville was up 1-0 after just two batters.

“He is starting to become a bigger leader. Coming here from Frontier and not knowing anybody was certainly a challenge to him,” Janisch said of Borrello. “He is now getting to a point where he can say some things and the kids understand why.”

After a pop-up for the second out, Aiden Piccolo doubled and Joe Villafranca walked. Neubauer then helped his own cause with a two-run double to make it 3-0.

“In the last couple of weeks, he has been swinging the bat pretty well,” Janisch said of Neubauer. “We’ve kept him down because there always seems to be somebody on base when he comes up. He has been getting kids in pretty regularly.”

The Black Knights repeated their success in the second inning. Borrello led off with a booming double that glanced off the bottom of the left field fence. Borrello thought the ball was going to clear the fence when it left his bat and had to hustle to beat the throw into second. After Borrello stole third, Kelly walked and stole second. A passed ball allowed Borrello to score before Aiden Piccolo walked and Villafranca hit a two-run double to make it 6-0.

“As a hitter, when he makes contact, the ball jumps. I haven’t had a kid that can hit the ball that hard in … I don’t know … forever,” Janisch said of Borrello. “When he gets on base, he knows what he’s doing and he knows what’s next.”

Johnston settled in from there, holding the Black Knights to just three hits and no runs over his final 3 1/3 innings. The right-hander finished with two strikeouts before reliever Owen Meyers stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of strikeouts.

“We had people on base and just couldn’t get them around. We got a little stale,” Janisch said. “That’s something we have to keep on pushing ourselves past. We have to aggressively go after things because that’s the only way we are going to win ballgames.”

But Silver Creek/Forestville’s eight men left on base didn’t matter because Neubauer was in control all afternoon, leading his Black Knights to the quarterfinals.

“There isn’t too much surprise in our dugout in terms of who’s going to do what,” Janisch said of today’s game, “because we’re just putting the pedal down.”

NOTES: Neubauer and Brayson Parsell had late-inning singles for Silver Creek/Forestville while Meyers had two singles, Braden LeBaron singled and Johnson singled for the Cougars.