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Wilson baseball earns thrilling extra-inning win over Gov. Mifflin

andrew heller, reading eagle, pa.
·5 min read

Apr. 15—A big-time matchup went the big league distance Monday at West Lawn, as Wilson defeated Gov. Mifflin 6-5 in a Berks Baseball League Division I game that lasted nine innings.

Playing for the first time since the Mustangs (3-2, 6-2) defeated the Bulldogs 6-3 in last year's Berks Baseball League championship game, a complete team effort by Wilson (2-2, 5-3) was completed by a walk-off RBI single from senior Nick Fiorini with no outs in the bottom of the ninth.

"It's very important (to get a win) against a team as good as Mifflin," Bulldogs junior Christo Hunsicker said. "They're going to be big competition against us in the future, and we're looking forward to playing them again. Our whole team contributed in this game, and that was the reason we pulled it out in the end.

"They skipped on Nick (Fiorini) a little earlier in the game and put him on first, and I'm so proud of him that he could come through in the end there. He's incredible."

With the game tied 5-5 and runners on second and third base with one out in the bottom of the seventh, Gov. Mifflin intentionally walked Fiorini to load the bases.

Mustangs Junior Bryce Detwiler, on the mound in relief, got sophomore Ben Kulp to ground out and junior Chase Ulrich to line out to short to force extra innings.

Fiorini got another chance, stepping to the plate with Hunsicker on first and sophomore Jack Gabel at third after both batters hit singles with no outs to start the bottom of the ninth.

Fiorini delivered with a line drive to left center field off of Detwiler, who suffered the loss in relief for Gov. Mifflin.

"I knew we had a man on third and nobody out and I knew I had to get the job done — either put the ball in the air or on the ground or just like I did with a line drive," Fiorini said. "They didn't want me on, they didn't want me to hit (earlier), so I was fired up."

"I think it shows that we have a lot of confidence in our players," Wilson coach Bill Underwood said. "I think a lot of guys want to be in situations to try and win it. So it was nice to be able to see Fiorini coming through at the end to produce for us. That was huge."

Fiorini finished the game with a run scored and went 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs, a double and a walk. Hunsicker also had a strong day at the plate, as the starting pitcher went 3-for-5 and hit a solo home run to start the bottom of the fifth to add an insurance run to the Bulldogs' 4-3 lead.

On the mound, Hunsicker struck out five, and gave up one walk and three runs (one earned) over five innings.

"I wasn't really thinking," Hunsicker said about his at-bat in the fifth inning. "I was just trying to put good contact on the ball with a good swing, and I got the pitch I was looking for and what happened, happened."

"I'm feeling good (pitching). Ever since the first game I've been figuring things out and working a little harder and focusing a little more. I'm hoping I can continue that but, again, the defense backed me up incredibly today so I'm glad that we could come together as a team."

The Mustangs showed a strong sense of resilience to tie the game in the seventh inning.

Detwiler hit a double to start the top of the seventh and junior Dylan Barrett was walked to put runners on first and second for Gov. Mifflin. With Gabel on in relief for the Bulldogs, junior Travis Jenkins hit an RBI single to right that scored both runners after a throwing error at third base allowed Barret to come home with the tying run, making it 5-5.

Detwiler went 2-for-4 with a double and Barrett went 1-for-1 with a double and a walk. Senior Dante Casantini went 3-for-5 with a double and one RBI for the Mustangs.

Trailing 3-1 in the top of the fourth, Casantini's RBI double ignited the first rally of the day for Gov. Mifflin, as senior Bryce Wunderlich brought him home on an RBI single in the next at-bat to tie the game.

"I was proud of the boys today for battling back," Mustangs coach Chris Hole said. "But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter much when you don't win. You got to figure out ways to get the 'W.' But we're a resilient group, we got to regroup and come back with more tough league games. So we'll have a short memory and just move along."

Junior Ethan Grimm started on the mound for Gov. Mifflin and recorded seven strikeouts and allowed five runs (four earned) over five innings of work.

After the Bulldogs scored a run off of one hit and two fielding errors in the top of the first, Fiorini hit an RBI double to score Hunsicker. Senior Cooper Kennedy then hit an RBI single to score Fiorini and give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead after one inning.

Senior Tommy Hunsicker, who went 2-for-5 with two RBI singles for Wilson, hit his first in the bottom of the second to score senior C.J. Fernandez and make it 3-1. With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth, Tommy Hunsicker hit another RBI single to score C.J. Fernandez and give the Bulldogs the lead once again.

Junior Austin Snyder earned the win for Wilson, allowing one hit and striking out one batter in the bottom of the ninth inning.

For Underwood, a strong outing against some of the Mustangs' top pitchers in Grim and Detwiler is a welcomed result.

"I think they had a cleaner game in regards to the errors, and we had some missed plays missing the cut off guys," Underwood said. "But we were able to battle back and we were able to answer their runs in the bottom half of most of our innings so that was huge for us to be able to get those hits against one of the best teams and the best pitchers in the conference."