Bouncing back

Hillsdale got off to a rocky start, giving up two runs in the top of the first inning, but a three-run bomb in the bottom of the frame gave Hillsdale the lead for good as it went on to post a 5-2 win.

“I said I’m excited for [Friday]. I’ll find out about our team,” Madison said. “We got it done.”

After Hillsdale (1-1 PAL Bay, 3-3 overall) took the lead and added two more in the second, it turned to starting pitcher Scott Leighton to take it the rest of the way. After the shaky start, he settled in and spun a gem, scattering five hits on just 83 pitches as he posted his second straight complete game.

“That (home run in the bottom of the first) was huge,” Leighton said. “Having some runs on the board was a huge swing.”

A contact pitcher, Leighton, a junior, relies on his defense and his ability to change speeds and location to keep opposing batters off balance. The Hillsdale defense lived up to Leighton’s confidence in it as Hillsdale played error-free in the field.

“[Leighton’s] been great,” Madison said. “Both years on JV (the last two season), he led the team in ERA and wins. He knows how to mix pitches. He knows how to get it done.”

King’s Academy (2-2, 6-4), however, jumped on Leighton early before he could settle in. Josh Algarin opened the game with a leadoff single to center and Garrett Plata walked. King’s Academy then worked the hit-and-run to perfection. With both runners moving, Caleb Charonnat singled up the middle to drive in Algarin. Following a foul out, King’s Academy executed a safety squeeze bunt, with Nick Yandle getting the bunt down and Plata scoring on the play.

Hillsdale, however, came right back in the bottom of the frame to take the lead for good. Jeremy Chong led off with a single to right field and JP Lyssenko reached on a slow roller to shortstop. Following a groundout during which both runners moved up a base, clean-up hitter Will Garratt came to the plate. He took a pair of strikes to start the at-bat, but eventually worked the count full. On the payoff pitch, Garratt launched a long, high fly ball to left that kept going before finally landing over the fence for a three-run homer and a fired-up Hillsdale dugout.

“They came up with a big at-bat,” said King’s Academy manager Greg Mugg. “They grabbed the momentum (with that home run) and kind of held on to it.”

Leighton came back out for the second and retired the side in order and again in the third as he set down seven straight batters. After throwing 18 pitches in the first inning, he had seven in the second and nine in the third.

The Hillsdale offense, meanwhile, stretched out its lead with two more runs in the second. Tommy Karpishin led off the second inning with a single and moved to second on an Antonio Paolinelli sacrifice bunt. Following a strikeout for the second out of the inning, during which Karpishin took third on a wild pitch, leadoff hitter Chong walked to put runners on the corners.

Chong got a walking lead to easily steal second and get into scoring position. It proved to be an important 90 feet as Lyssenko followed with a two-run single to center, with Chong barely beating the throw home to put Hillsdale up 5-2.

Hillsdale had its chances to add on throughout the rest of the game, but could not come up with the key hit against King’s Academy starter Plata. Hillsdale had runners in scoring position in the third and fourth innings, but came up empty. Hillsdale’s best chance of scoring some insurance runs came in the bottom of the six. It had runners on second and third with one out, but botched a suicide bunt attempt doused the rally.

“It was good to get on the bases and do some things,” Madison said. “To have the opportunities is big. But to win in this league, you have to cash them in.”

It didn’t really matter, however, as Leighton was in a groove. After the first inning, King’s Academy didn’t have another base runner until Matt Wilson led off the top of the fourth with a double to the left-center field gap, but Leighton retired the next three batters on just nine pitches.

King’s Academy added two more hits in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Algarin singled the opposite way to left and stole second. Plata followed with a single to left, but Hillsdale caught a break when Algarin pulled up at third as the Hillsdale left fielder bobbled the ball.

Leighton took advantage of the break and got the next batter to fly out to end the inning.

In the sixth, Wilson walked to lead off the inning, but Leighton induced the next batter to hit a sharp grounder to RJ Abad at third base, who threw to Karpishin at second and on to Garratt at first for the 6-4-3 double play and fist pump from Leighton.

King’s Academy got two runners on with two outs in the top of the seventh, but not even a broken shoelace was going to keep Leighton from finishing the game. After taping his shoe up, he went out and finished off the win.

“I wanted him to finish (the complete game),” Madison said. “It was a great outing for him.”