Christo Hunsicker-Wilson

To avoid a (1-3) record in league play, Wilson had to beat one of the top pitchers in Berks County. The Bulldogs racked up a season-high 14 hits in a 6-5 victory over rival Gov. Mifflin that lasted nine innings. “As a little kid, I grew up wanting to beat Mifflin. They want to beat us in every sport,” said Christo Hunsicker. The 6’2 junior homered and allowed just one earned run over five frames. Wilson scored five runs, four earned, off Mustangs’ ace Ethan Grim. The hard-throwing righty gave up ten hits. “We were looking to just take it the opposite way, stay on top of the ball. We looked for the fastball,” explained Hunsicker. He went 3-for-5 including a single in the bottom of the 9th that put runners on the corners with nobody out. Gov. Mifflin intentionally walked Nick Fiorini in the 7th, but the Mustangs opted to pitch to the Bulldogs’ cleanup hitter in the 9th inning. Fiorini ripped a line drive single to center that scored Jack Gabel to end it. “They walked him earlier in the game and I knew that would motivate him. He’s a competitor like that so I knew he would get it done,” remarked Hunsicker. Fiorini went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and increased his batting average to .448. The senior outfielder was an all-division selection a season ago, along with Hunsicker. Fiorini’s double to left-center knocked in Hunsicker in the opening frame. Cooper Kennedy followed with a RBI single to center that put Wilson on top 2-1. Tommy Hunsicker, Christo’s older brother, singled up the middle for a 3-1 advantage in the 2nd inning. Gov. Mifflin tied it with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. Dante Casantini launched a two-out RBI double to left-center. Bryce Wunderlich then hit a grounder to shortstop that was misplayed. The Bulldogs committed five errors on Monday afternoon. Tommy Hunsicker put Wilson back in front with a line drive single to right field in the 4th inning. His brother hammered a solo homer to left-center in the next inning. The (6-2, 3-2) Mustangs rallied in the 7th off Gabel. Travis Jenkins laced a RBI single to right field. The cutoff throw to third base got away which allowed the tying run to score. The (6-3, 2-2) Bulldogs loaded the bases in the bottom half, but couldn’t score. UConn commit Bryce Detwiler got Ben Kulp to ground out with the infield in. Chase Ulrich, who came off the bench, lined out to shortstop to end the threat. Gov. Mifflin had another opportunity to score in the 8th, but Grim popped out to first base with the bases juiced. The Mustangs had men on first and second with one out in the 9th, but failed to score again. Austin Snyder got a strikeout and a ground out. The junior picked up the win in relief. He had only pitched 2.2 innings all season. Gabel, Christo Hunsicker, and Fiorini hit consecutive singles off Detwiler in the 9th to set off a celebration by the Bulldogs. Gabel, Kennedy, Kulp, and Tommy Hunsicker had two hits apiece. Gabel, a promising sophomore shortstop, is batting .464. Casantini finished with three of Gov. Mifflin’s nine hits. Detwiler added two hits and a couple of runs. The Mustangs made three errors. They had to shuffle their outfielders around after two players missed practice on Sunday. Meanwhile, Wilson got some good news from Penn State commit Matt VanOstenbridge. The All-County southpaw is hoping to return to the mound on Wednesday. He’s been dealing with some back tightness. The Bulldogs have four games in five days this week. The race in Division 1 got tighter after Wilson held off its rival. “Definitely super important…we’ve been a little down recently and this could get us back to where we’re supposed to be,” said Christo Hunsicker.