Hunsicker leads Wilson to Berks I baseball title with win over Gov. Mifflin

May 3—After helping Wilson claim the Berks I baseball title for the first time in three years, junior Christo Hunsicker summed up Friday's 10-3 victory over Gov. Mifflin at Shillington.

"The rivalry has been going on for years and we were excited to play them," Hunsicker said. "They're good competition, and to be the best you have to beat the best."

Hunsicker helped his team do that against the reigning BCIAA champions by hitting a solo home run in the first inning off junior Bryce Detwiler, a University of Connecticut commit, to give the Bulldogs (9-3, 13-6) a 1-0 lead. He also struck out five in earning the win.

"I saw it out of his (Detwiler's) hand early and luckily I put the barrel on the ball," Hunsicker said. "I'm excited if we play them again and have to face him (Detwiler) or Ethan Grim."

Hunsicker also hit a solo home run in Wilson's 6-5 win over the Mustangs (9-3, 14-3) on April 15, and the two head-to-head victories served as the tiebreaker at the top of the division for Wilson.

Should they meet for a third time this season in the BCIAA playoffs, the Bulldogs will be ready for a matchup with even bigger implications according to Wilson coach Bill Underwood

Gov. Mifflin defeated the Bulldogs 6-3 in last year's BCIAA final.

"It feels good because you come into this game every year, twice a year, knowing that it could go either way," Underwood said, "and when you play your rival and beat them, it's always, always nice.

"But you get a division crown and people say, 'Well, congratulations on the division crown.' And that's great, but we're looking for a county title. For a district title."

Aiding in the offensive charge Friday for Wilson was sophomore Jack Gabel who went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, and senior Nick Fiorini who went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for the Bulldogs.

Holding a 1-0 lead following Hunsicker's home run, a four-run third inning gave the Bulldogs enough momentum to carry through with the victory.

With two outs in the top of the third, Fiorini hit an RBI single to make it 2-0, before the next two batters reached base on fielding errors and a third runner scored. Senior Matt VanOstenbridge then hit an RBI single to right field that scored two runs for the Bulldogs.

Gov. Mifflin committed four errors in the top of the third and finished the game with seven total. Detwiler took the loss. He struck out five batters over five innings and allowed seven hits and six runs (three earned).

"We've had games this year where we definitely have not helped ourselves with the defense," Mustangs coach Chris Hole said. "Today was probably the exclamation point of that circumstance, unfortunately, with the huge number of errors that we put up, that made Bryce throw so many extra pitches and gave them some momentum.

"Credit to them, they capitalized on that."

Fiorini hit his second RBI single in the fourth to make it 6-0.

Hunsicker had a no-hitter going until Dylan Barrett hit an RBI double to right field to put Gov. Mifflin on the board with one run in the bottom of the fourth.

He finished the game with three hits allowed, three runs surrendered (one earned) and three walks over five innings.

"I might make them (Wilson's defense) comfortable; I don't know about that," Hunsicker said. "But they definitely make me comfortable and I always love pitching with them behind me. I know that if a ball goes on the ground, they're gonna make the play."

Back-to-back RBI singles by Branson Adams and Travis Jenkins cut the Mustangs' deficit to three and closed out the scoring for Gov. Mifflin in the fifth.

In the top of the seventh, CJ Fernandez hit an RBI single that scored two for the Bulldogs and a throwing error to first base allowed two more to score after a hard hit ball back up the middle by Hunsicker.

"Putting it in play was a big idea for our team," Hunsicker said. "We put it to work and it worked out for us in the end."

VanOstenbridge, a left-handed starter and Penn State commit who threw a no-hitter over five innings against Exeter last week, has not thrown against the Mustangs this season.

Ben Kulp allowed two hits and struck out one batter over two innings of relief work for Wilson Friday.

"We know what Matt can bring to the table, but we also know that Christo can throw a lot of strikes," Underwood said. "As long as we play defense behind them, we can be successful. We had Mattie ready to go today if we needed him in the end.

"I felt like Ben was going to give us what we needed in the end."

With postseason baseball around the corner for both teams, championship aspirations remain high in both Shillington and West Lawn.

"We talked to the boys and said, 'You just can't let a loss like this define you,'" Hole said. "And that's the great thing about baseball: there's a new day. We got a good group of seniors, a good group of captains and I have confidence that they're going to get us refocused and come back and play better."

"It's a nice accomplishment and it's a goal to be at the top of your division," Underwood said. "But we also know that if we play well enough throughout the season, and we win the games we should, then we're going to be in counties and we'll take care of business when we can."