HS Baseball: Hutsko slams door as Minersville rallies past Marian
Minersville's Logan Rizzardi rounds second base and heads for third during a Schuylkill League Division II baseball game Wednesday at Del Hauck Field. The Battlin' Miners defeated Marian 4-3 (photo by Kelly Wiley).
MINERSVILLE — Just when it seemed like Marian had stolen the show in a crucial late-season Schuylkill League Division II clash, Minersville answered with thunder in the fifth inning and held on for a 4-3 comeback win Thursday at Del Hauck Field.
Marian (9-10, 7-6) built a 2-0 lead midway through the game, including a gutsy steal of home that forced a balk, but Minersville (11-8, 8-5) erupted for four runs in the fifth and turned to senior southpaw Logan Hutsko to close the door.
But patience proved a virtue. The Battlin’ Miners responded in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs and putting the ballgame in the hands of senior southpaw Logan Hutsko, who shut down the Colts over the final two innings to secure a 4-3 victory.
Too, Minersville never seemed to go into panic mode, Hutsko would say afterward.
“I didn’t feel myself today I just had to keep battling,” said the senior who possibly played his final home game.
His manager, Shane Spotts, agreed.
“He was a bulldog at times out there,” Spotts said. “He’s been in a lot of big moments throughout his high school career, and I was proud of him.”
For the most part, this was a duel between two solid pitchers.
Marian seized a 1-0 lead in its first at-bats. With one out, Rocco Griguoli singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Jimmy Cannon smoked a single to right-center, plating Griguoli with the early lead.
Jordan, who took the loss, was extremely effective early — not allowing a hit through two innings — until his back began tightening in the fifth. In the third, Minersville freshman Jason Correll singled for one of his two hits, but Marian’s defense turned a double play on a line drive from Hutsko, with Brayden Grant snagging the liner and catching Correll leaning off first to end the inning.
In the fourth, Easton Schultz walked but was thrown out trying to steal second on a hit-and-run. Though A.J. Halford crushed a 365-foot double to left-center, he was stranded.
Meanwhile, Marian added its second run in the top of the fourth. Cole Defrancisco singled, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and then came home when manager John “Pilsey” Petrilyak called for a steal of home. Hutsko balked on the play.
“I kept watching (Hutsko) and he was deliberate in his windup, that’s why I thought we could steal,” Petrilyak offered, a gutsy and daring move. “I just felt at that time we needed to score another run. It sure looked big for us.”
But then the roof began to sag on Marian. Although Grant reached on a single, he was doubled up when second baseman Schultz started a twin killing, flipping to Garrett Sukeena, who fired to first.
“That was a big help,” Hutsko remembered. “We have a pretty good infield and outfield, so anytime you get a double play it helps me.”
Minersville’s offense surged in the fifth with four hits. Sukeena was hit by a pitch, and after a walk to Logan Rizzardi, Correll singled home a run. Hutsko helped his cause with a two-run single, and Nolan Plesnarski added an RBI hit to give the Miners a 4-2 lead.
