Bulldogs secure Berks I title, look ahead to bigger things in postseason
2024 Berks baseball coverage presented by
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Christo Hunsicker isn’t going to turn heads with the velocity of his fastball or the break of his curve.
It’s the command of the pitches he throws and his understanding of where to throw them that wins games for his Wilson baseball team.
With Hunsicker the whole is greater than the sum of parts. That was the case Friday when he once again subdued the most dangerous lineup in the Berks League as the Bulldogs beat Gov. Mifflin 10-3 at Rulon Griffith Field to claim the Division I title.
| Berks I | League | Overall |
| Wilson | 9-3 | 13-6 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 9-3 | 14-3 |
| Muhlenberg | 8-4 | 12-6 |
| Exeter | 4-8 | 9-9 |
| Reading High | 1-11 | 2-15 |
“He doesn’t have wipe-away stuff,” Bulldogs coach Bill Underwood said of Hunsicker. “He doesn’t have the huge breaking ball or the slider (but) he’s confident on the mound and he throws strikes.”
The junior right-hander took the ball at midseason and pitched five strong innings against the Mustangs (9-3 Berks I, 14-3), keeping his team in it long enough for them to pull out a 6-5, nine-inning victory.
He was even better in Friday’s league finale, holding the Mustangs’ potent lineup hitless for three innings and to just one run through four.
Hunsicker said he learned from his first start against Mifflin and applied that with the division title on the line.
“I know some of them like certain pitches,” he said, “(I know) their strengths, so I try not to give them what they are good at. What they can hit, I tried not to throw . . . just put it in the strike zone for them to make contact so our defense could make plays.”
That was the difference in the game: The Bulldogs (9-3 Berks I, 13-6) made the plays, the Mustangs didn’t.
Mifflin’s defense completely broke down, committing a whopping seven errors – more than coach Chris Hole could ever recall.
The Mustangs have been one of the league’s most consistent defensive teams; they had been allowing just 1.5 errors per game. Friday it was a disaster from the start, with shortstop Billy Angstadt making errors on consecutive ground balls in the first inning. There were three more errors in Wilson’s four-run third. All told, half of Wilson’s runs were unearned.
“Today, obviously, was the worst version of ourselves,” Hole said, “and unfortunately that happened against a very good opponent in a big game.
“You’re always going to make mistakes. (We) always talk about: ‘We’ve got to make the next play.’ Today we couldn’t do that.”
Even with all of those miscues the Mustangs scrambled back in the game, pulling within 6-3 in the fifth when they got consecutive singles from Bryce Detwiler, Branson Adams, and Travis Jenkins. One more hit there could’ve made it a one-run game but Hunsicker escaped the jam by getting Ethan Grim – who came in batting .478 with 21 RBIs in 16 games – to hit a one-hopper to third for the final out.
“We talk to our guys all the time about being able to minimize (the damage),” Underwood said. “They had runners on second and third and we get a groundball to Tommy (Hunsicker at third). You have an error there, they score two.”
The Bulldogs got another defensive gem in the following inning when Christo Hunsicker, who moved to first base in the sixth, started a 3-6-3 double play after Dylan Barrett had opened the inning with a single.
Hunsicker, facing a team with a .336 batting average, allowed just allowed just four hits over five innings.
“That’s the best I’ve ever seen him,” said senior teammate Matt VanOstenbridge, Wilson’s mound ace. “He was good – really, really good. That’s probably the hardest I’ve ever seen him through. Those first couple innings he was throwing missiles”
Wilson put it away with four runs in the seventh, the last two scoring on – you guessed it – a throwing error.
“It’s disappointing in the way we let things spiral,” Hole said of the defensive breakdowns. “Very uncharacteristic (for us). (The errors) resulted in (starting pitcher) Bryce (Detwiler) throwing a ton of extra pitches. It resulted in them gaining a ton of momentum. Credit to them for capitalizing on those mistakes.”
Christo Hunsicker didn’t need any help to put the Bulldogs up 1-0 in the first. He drilled a Detwiler slider well over the fence in left for his team-leading third homer and second this season against Mifflin.
VanOstenbridge, the DH, had the day’s other biggest hit, a two-run in the third that made it 5-0. C.J. Fernandez had a two-run single in the seventh. Overall, the Bulldogs had 10 hits and 19 baserunners.
Wilson and Mifflin finish with the same league record but the Bulldogs can claim the division title on the basis of two head-to-head wins over the Mustangs. The result won’t be a factor in the makeup of next week’s league playoffs – each team had already clinched a spot in the eight-team field – but you can bet it’ll have an impact somewhere.
Mifflin and Wilson enter the tournament as the favorites and each is hoping for another shot at the other; if the seeds hold up that can only happen in the championship game.
Mifflin beat Wilson 6-3 in last year’s championship game.
“It’s huge to come here and beat them.” said Wilson senior Nick Fiorini, who had two hits and two RBIs. “Any win against Mifflin is gonna be a big. Since the end of last year that (championship loss) has been on our mind. We haven’t forgotten about it – we’re not gonna forget about it.”
Good as Friday’s victory was Underwood knows it is just a preamble.
“It’s nice to be able to leave with a division title,” he said, “but the bigger and better things are the county title and the district title.”
| Wilson | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | – | 10 | 10 | 1 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | 6 | 7 |
| Bulldogs | AB | R | H | RBI | Mustangs | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| T. Hunsicker, 3b | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Detwiler, p/ss | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Gabel, 2b | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | Adams, rf/lf/c | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| C. Hunsicker, p/1b | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Jenkins, c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Fiorini, cf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Radwanski, ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kulp, 1b/p | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Glucknis, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kennedy, rf | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Grim, 2b/ss | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| VanOstenbridge, dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Barrett, dh/cf | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Herbein, c | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Angstadt, ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Marmolejos, lf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Guigley, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Fernandez, 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Koehler, 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ulrich, cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Casantini, 1b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Berg, lf/2b/rf | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Wunderlich, cf/lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Eshbach, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 37 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 26 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
E: Kennedy; Angstadt 4, Grim, Berg, Glucknis. 2B. Fiorini; Adams, Barrett. HR: C. Hunsicker. SB: Gabel 2, Kennedy, Kulp, Marmolejos, T. Hunsicker, Jenkins. LOB: Wilson 9, Gov. Mifflin 7.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| C. Hunsicker, W (2-1) | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | Detwiler, L (5-2) | 5 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 5 | |
| Kulp, S (1) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Glucksnis | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
WP: Detwiler, Glucksnis 2. HBP: T. Hunsicker (by Glucksnis), Casantini (by Kulp).
