June 20, 2012 7:00 a.m. COCHRANTON — COCHRANTON — A.J. Thompson twirled a gem; the French Creek Valley defense backed him up flawlessly; and the team’s offense proved that it’s adjusting well to the wooden bat game as the Creekers topped Cochranton 7-0 in a Crawford-Venango American Legion baseball contest on Tuesday.

Thompson, a lefty, took to the mound for the second time this year and fired a complete-game three-hit shutout, allowing four walks while striking out seven.

“A.J. kept them off balance,” said FCV head coach Brandon Crum. “He was changing eye levels from the first inning to the seventh. I actually kept telling him to go back to his fastball. But he was being successful by throwing more off-speed and then coming back to his fastball. He pitched backward, so to say. But it worked.”

Behind Thompson, FCV’s defense was spotless through seven innings, turning a trio of double plays in the process.

“I couldn’t ask for a better defense,” said Thompson. “That goes a long way for us. Even if our bats aren’t doing so well, our defense is always up.”

Thompson initiated two of those double plays — a 1-5-3 with two on and no outs in the second inning and a 1-6-3 with one on and one out in the sixth.

“We had guys in scoring position in three innings, but we never got the hit,” said Cochranton head coach Randy Staudt. “That’s kind of been our M.O. all season. We’re not hitting lights out, but we’re getting people on. We have good, patient at-bats. ... We’ve just got to have that follow-up hit happen.”

In the fifth, FCV second baseman Kyle Wise turned a double play with a tag on the runner at second and the throw to first in end that inning.

“Our defense has been playing well all year,” said Crum. “We’ve been moving some guys around. They’re getting comfortable playing in different positions. But for the most part we’re playing real smooth defense.”

So with Thompson holding it down on the mound, and the defense putting on a show; all the Creekers now had to do was manufacture some runs.

They got it going in the second inning. Adam Bronson was hit by a pitch to start the frame. Then Ryan Paden brought him home with a double to the gap in left-center.

That was really the only big hit FCV had in the game. Cochranton starter Ryan Northcott had a decent day on the mound. He went six innings, allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits, walked one and struck out seven.

However, FCV was able to score six more runs by going small-ball and by being aggressive on the base paths.

In the second, Wise was hit by a pitch to lead the inning off. Hunter Johnston followed it up with a bunt single that Cochranton didn’t cover correctly. Austin Scere moved both runners over with a sacrifice bunt. Then Bronson laid down a third straight bunt to bring Wise home. Cochranton subsequently misplayed the bunt, allowing Johnston to score from second, putting FCV up 3-0.

“That’s something we had struggled with, putting key bunts down,” said Crum. “I told them (Tuesday), ‘We will bunt. We’ll bunt with two strikes.’ And Austin Scere put a real nice bunt down with two strikes.”

The Valley boys wouldn’t score again until the seventh inning, facing Cochranton reliever Travis Peterson.

Peterson struggled to find the zone. He walked the first two batters, Scere and Bronson. And with two outs he walked Chase Gallo to load the bases.

That’s when Peterson let loose a wild pitch. Scere came home to score. The throw from catcher Caleb Peterson to the plate got away from Travis Peterson, who was covering home. And that opened the door for Bronson to charge in and score. Meanwhile Gallo made it to third.

Thompson then drew a fourth walk. He quickly took a huge lead off of first base. Travis Peterson took the bait and threw to first, allowing Gallo to sneak home and score, making it 6-0.

“We see a base, we steal it,” said Thompson. “We like to run. We’ve got a lot of speed, so we’re going to run.”

Cole Baker followed that up with an RBI single to left, scoring Thompson off second for the final run of the evening.

The win puts French Creek Valley at 9-0 on the year. Crum said he’s not counting his team’s 3-2 loss to Columbia (Md.) in the championship game of the Hillbilly Hardball Classic, since it was called in the top of the fifth.

Cochranton falls to 1-3 on the season. This was the team’s second loss to FCV following a 5-3 defeat on June 9.

“Our guys have done well to play two mostly tight ball games,” said Staudt. “So, I’m proud of the guys. I just home we start winning more.”