Berks-champion Bulldogs ‘won’t be defined’ by season-ending loss in PIAA quarterfinal
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PLYMOUTH MEETING — Nick Fiorini and his Wilson classmates went out on a good note, with hugs and tears — but not with a win.
The Berks League champion Bulldogs saw their season end Thursday in a 7-0 loss to Downingtown West in a PIAA Class 6A baseball quarterfinal at Villanova Ballpark.
The hard-hitting Bulldogs (20-8) were shut out for just the second time all season and the first time since late March, against O.J. Roberts. University of Pittsburgh recruit Drew Turner checked them on three hits over six innings.
The District 1 runner-up Whippets (21-5) took advantage of some early Wilson mistakes, scoring single runs in each of the first three innings, then broke it open on Matt DiOttavio’s grand slam in the fifth.
Duke recruit Jay Slater led Downingtown’s nine-hit attack, going 3-for-4 with a double.
“It obviously wasn’t our best game,” said Fiorini, a center fielder and senior captain. “We came in here, we knew what we were gonna face … (Turner) got the job done and sat us down.
“You never want that to happen, obviously, but there’s got to be a winner, there’s got to be a loser, and the season’s gotta end somewhere.”
The Bulldogs weren’t as crisp on defense as they usually are. A pair of passed balls led to an unearned second-inning run and 2-0 deficit. The Whippets stole a run in the third, perfectly executing a double-steal that saw Quinn Henicle – an Old Dominion quarterback recruit – score from third for a 3-0 lead.
The decisive fifth inning saw one batter reach when first baseman Ben Kulp dropped a throw for an error and another when a grounder glanced off the third base umpire and landed in fair territory for a single that loaded the bases.
The umpire was stationed in foul territory, and Wilson coach Bill Underwood protested that the ball should have been called foul. After the umpiring crew gathered to discuss the play the initial call stood. The next batter, DiOttavio, slammed a hanging curve from Christo Hunsicker some 350 feet to left and out of the park to make it 7-0.
“I tell the guys all the time, the small things make a difference when it’s tight like that,” Underwood said. “You get behind a little bit, press a little bit … it just didn’t come out like we wanted it to today.”
“That game doesn’t define us,” said Matt VanOstenbridge, a senior captain who served as the DH. “The rest of the season we played really, really well.”
Bad bounces or defensive miscues aside, the fact is a Wilson team that came in batting .294 and averaging 5.7 runs per game didn’t get a hit until the third inning and didn’t get a runner to second until the fourth.
Turner kept them in check.
“Their pitcher just did really well,” Underwood said. “He shut us down. He threw his offspeed for strikes and had us off-balanced.”
Downingtown West was able to save its ace for the second round. It had a relatively easy match-up in the opening round – Central of Philadelphia, which it beat 11-1 – and was able to save its ace.
Wilson, on the other hand, didn’t have it’s No. 1 pitcher available. VanOstenbridge pitched a one-hitter Monday to beat North Allegheny 2-0 but could not throw Thursday due to PIAA pitch restrictions.
That state tournament win – just the fifth in program history – will remain a season highlight, as will the 10-3 win over Gov. Mifflin in the BCIAA championship game. That gave the Bulldogs a three-game sweep of the Mustangs.
“It was amazing to win that,” said Fiorini, who will play at Elizabethtown next season. “To be able to go out there and beat our rival… it’s something you can’t explain. I loved that.”
“Winning the county ‘chip,’ that was a true team win,” said VanOstenbridge, who will pitch at Penn State next season. “Everyone chipped in and played their ‘A’ game. That game defined us.”
| Wilson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Downingtown West | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | x | – | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| Whippets | AB | R | H | RBI | Bulldogs | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| Kucera, cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | T. Hunsicker, 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Henicle, ss | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Gabel, ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Slater, c | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | C. Hunsicker, 1b/p | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Epstein, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ulrich, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Furia, lf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Fiorini, cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mello, 1b/p | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Kennedy, rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Connolly, rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Lavin, ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| DiOttavio, 3b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | Kulp, p/1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jaszczak, 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Scolastico, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Frye, dh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | VanOstenbrdige, dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Turner, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Herbein, c | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bodnar, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Marmolesjos, lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Ernesto, ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Fernandez, 2b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Snyder, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 24 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
E: Kulp. 2B: Slater, Henicle. HR: Ottavio. SB: Henicle 2, Furia. CS: Epstein. SF: Frye. LOB: Wilson 6, Downingtown West 6.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Turner, W | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | Kulp, L | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Mello | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | C. Hunsicker | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| Siwik | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
PB: Herbein 2.
