Christo – Berks Sports Report

Christo Hunsicker-Wilson

Paul Roberts — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 05:12:46 +0000

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.

Christo Hunsicker-Wilson

Paul Roberts — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 01:03:00 +0000

Wilson and Gov. Mifflin aren’t just rivals. They’ve been two of the top baseball programs in District 3 for several years. The Mustangs entered the week riding an 8-game winning streak. They had outscored their opponents by an astounding margin of 85-6 during that stretch. The Bulldogs were looking forward to the challenge on Monday afternoon in Shillington. Christo Hunsicker delivered a tiebreaking 2-run triple in the top of the 7th inning that propelled Wilson to a 6-3 victory. “It feels great. When we play good competition, it’s really fun,” said Hunsicker. It was scoreless through three innings which wasn’t a surprise considering who was on the mound. UConn commit Tyler Minick made his first start this season for Gov. Mifflin. He was (4-0) with a 0.93 ERA last year. Promising southpaw Matt VanOstenbridge was on the mound for the Bulldogs. The junior has a-half dozen Division I offers. Senior catcher Jordan Shutter got Wilson on the board first with a single to center field that scored Hunsicker in the 4th. The Bulldogs took a 2-0 advantage on one of several odd plays. Catcher Darien Troche threw down to second base. Ethan Grim was supposed to cut off the throw during an attempted steal. The ball deflected off Grim’s glove and hit shortstop Bryce Detwiler in the head. That allowed Nick Crocona to race home from third base. Troche knocked in the Mustangs’ first run with a single to left in the bottom of the frame. In the top of the 6th, Crocona came to the plate with men on second and third and nobody out. Grim, who moved to the outfield after a pitching change, made a diving catch of Crocona’s line drive down the left field line. Hunsicker appeared to score easily after tagging up, but the umpire ruled that he left early. A sacrifice fly turned into a double play. Wilson did tack on a run when Shutter provided another RBI single. Gov. Mifflin got a pair of runs in the bottom of the 6th to even the Division 1 matchup at 3-3. Xander Velez scored on a wild pitch by VanOstenbridge. The lefty was replaced by Crocona with one out and two men on base. Jon Radwanski then hit a grounder back to Crocona who turned and fired to second base to start a double play. However, the Mustangs’ runners were on second and third. The tying run scored on that strange sequence. Crocona, a senior right-hander who also plays football and basketball, composed himself and got out of the 6th without any further damage. Tommy Hunsicker, Christo’s older brother, and Rafael Fernandez set the stage with back-to-back singles in the top of the 7th. Christo Hunsicker followed with a two-out triple off Detwiler that was hammered to center field. Matt Novotny came out of the Gov. Mifflin bullpen and gave up a line drive RBI single to center by Nick Fiorini. Crocona picked up the win with a scoreless 7th inning. The (7-3, 3-2) Bulldogs piled up eleven hits. The (9-2, 5-1) Mustangs were held to four, two coming from Minick. Wilson has won five of its last six contests. VanOstenbridge allowed three runs, two earned, over 5.1 innings. He struck out nine, walked three, and hit two batters. Minick permitted two runs on four hits in four innings with five strikeouts. Detwiler took the loss. He was charged with four runs on six hits in 2.2 innings. Tommy Hunsicker, Fiorini, and Shutter had two hits apiece. Christo Hunsicker was 3-for-4 with two runs. The first baseman mentioned that he gets along well with his brother. “He takes me to school every day and we get to hang out a lot. I’m just glad we have such a good relationship,” said Christo. He’ll certainly have a lot to talk about with Tommy on their car ride to school on Tuesday morning.