By TIM IRVING
Churchville-Chili threw their best weapon at Hilton, left-handed junior pitcher Zack Miner.
“He’s a good one, trying to get our kids used to seeing a lefty, it’s only the second or third time we’ve seen a lefty, “ said Hilton baseball coach Kevin Whelehan.
The Cadets got five runs in three innings off Miner and pulled away for a 15-7 victory.
It started in the second when Luke Schofield led off with a ground rule double into the rightfield corner. Whelehan’s son, Michael, followed with a double to center for the first run. Whelehan got caught between second and third but the pickoff attempt was thrown away and Whelehan scored for a 2-0 lead.
Miner helped himself out in the bottom of the second, drawing a walk, stealing second, the throw went into center and then Danny Derleth hit a sharp grounder to third, allowing Miner to score on the infield single.
But in the top of the third, Hilton loaded the bases for Whelehan who unloaded them with another double to left center and a 5-1 lead.
“The approach is to try and go right center against them (lefties),” the Cadets sophomore Whelehan said. “I’ve been hitting the ball hard but right at kids but today, looked first pitch fastball and hit it hard.”
In the fourth, Whelehan drove in his fifth run on a sacrifice fly and Preston Prince scored a run on a wild pitch for a 7-1 lead.
The Saints kept after Hilton, Brian Bennedetto laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Anthony Shortino in the fourth.
Both teams added to their totals in the sixth. Schofield led off with a shot to the fence in left that went for an inside-the-park home run. Tyler Cerame added a two-run double and Prince hit a home run in a six-run top of the frame.
The Saints got five of their own in the bottom half of the inning before Whelehan got the final two outs leaving a 13-7 score. Jacob Soricone added a two-run homer in the seventh for the final margin.
Drew Bateman got the win, scattering six hits and walking just one.
The Cadets (8-3) have won seven straight games heading into a big home game Saturday against McQuaid.
“We’ve been swinging the bats well, our pitching’s been good and our defense has been good, so we’ve kinda put it all together right now and we’re right where we wanna be, “ Kevin Whelehan said.
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