YORK — York High sophomore pitcher Josh Gennaro said he was “a little shaky at first,” in Wednesday’s Class B baseball game against Cape Elizabeth.

Which was perfectly understandable. It was Gennaro’s first varsity start. And two hitters into the game, it showed. Gennaro was missing badly on some pitches and after leadoff man Mike Mackenzie lined out to center, Sean O’Sullivan singled hard to right.

From there, Gennaro settled in, pitching six shut-out innings, on five hits, seven strikeouts and most importantly no walks as York improved to 4-1 with a 7-2 win against Cape (0-4).

“I just took what I’ve done my whole life and put it into the game,” Gennaro said. “I just kept my composure, slowed down and stayed with it. And don’t let down.”

Gennaro showed composure in the top of the sixth when he was still protecting a 2-0 lead. Mackenzie led the inning off with a single and stole second as Sullivan got ahead in the count 3-0. Gennaro came back to strike out Sullivan and retire the next two hitters.

“He’s just competitive. He doesn’t want to lose and he doesn’t want to lose at-bats, either. That’s what really stuck out for us when we watched him last year pitching for the JVs,” said York Coach Nick Hanlon. “I think at the JV level he walked one or two kids all year.”

York put the game on ice with five runs in the sixth inning. The inning started with a single by No. 8 hitter J. Henry Bock after an extended at-bat against Cape starter Jameson Bakke. Alex Neilson followed with a four-pitch walk. Riley Linn (2 for 3, 2 runs) drove home Bock with a ground single.

“We had the hits but we weren’t stringing them together and then in the sixth we strung them together,” Linn said. “Every inning, every person through the lineup has a good chance to get good base hits.”

After Trevor Lavigne reached on an error, Shane Pidgeon hit a two-run single and Jake Sullivan poked an opposite-field single to left to drive in another run. Another Cape error brought in York’s final run.

Sullivan staked York to a 2-0 lead with a long two-out, two-run double to the fence in right in the third inning. In the first, fourth and fifth innings, Bakke was able to work out of run-scoring situations, stranding six Wildcats in scoring position.

Cape scored twice in the seventh off reliever Luke Doughty on a two-run single by Aiden Lee. The inexperienced Capers (Bakke is the only returning starter) have yet to score more than two runs in a game.

“Unfortunately the opposition, they’re always a little bit better than us but we’re getting better week-to-week. We’re stringing some good at-bats together,” said first-year coach Glenn Reeves.