Mount Pulaski edges Cissna Park 7-6 in  sectional baseball action 
Hilltoppers advance to the Danville Sectional Championship Saturday at
10 a.m. versus Salt Fork 
 

[May 24, 2019] 

The Mount Pulaski Hilltoppers like to make fans sit nervously on the edge of the bleachers.

The Hilltoppers took the lead late in the game Wednesday night over the Cissna Park Timberwolves in the Danville  Sectional and ended up winning by a final score of 7-6.

Back-to-back bases loaded walks to Garrett Fitzpatrick and Lucas Kuhlman allowed Mount Pulaski to go ahead in the bottom of the sixth inning off Timberwolves reliever Gavin Speirs.

Drew Martin was outstanding on the mound in relief for the Hilltoppers and he sent the Timberwolves packing in the top of the seventh inning, retiring the side on strikeouts and allowing Mount Pulaski to advance to the Sectional Championship on Saturday.

Martin earned the win for Mount Pulaski and struck out seven batters in three innings of relief. 

Cissna Park took a 2-0 first inning lead over Mount Pulaski, but the Hilltoppers offense wasted no time stealing the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Drew Martin scored on a sacrifice fly by Tanner Farris and that put Mount Pulaski in the scoring column. Grant Davis and Garrett Fitzpatrick added RBI singles that gave Mount Pulaski a 3-2 advantage over Cissna Park. 

Cissna Park would score a couple more runs in the top of the third inning off starter Todd Kelly. Kelly was tagged for another run in the top of the fourth inning that put the Timberwolves out front 5-3.

No worries on behalf of the Hilltoppers. They came back with vengeance in the bottom of the fourth inning. Drew Martin drove the ball to deep center, close to the 400 ft. mark and that was good for a triple. After Logan DeRight was hit by a pitch, Ben Fricke came up to the plate and he crushed a double in the gap that rolled towards the fence some 400 feet away too. Fricke's double sent Martin home leisurely as DeRight hustled into third. A sacrifice fly to center by Farris allowed DeRight to tag up and score the tying run.

Mount Pulaski and Cissna Park were knotted at 5-5 and the fans were off the bleachers showing appreciation for the Hilltoppers' efforts. That score would remain until the top of the sixth inning when the Timberwolves were able to push a run across off Martin.

No sweat. Mount Pulaski took advantage of some shaky pitching in the bottom of the inning. A single by Ben Fricke was the only hit of the inning. The rest of the baserunners were thanks to the Hilltoppers being patient at the plate and taking the walks.

Walks to DeRight and Farris loaded the bases for Mount Pulaski and after two outs,

Fitzpatrick watched ball four sail out of the strike zone and that pushed DeRight home to tie the game.

Kuhlman found himself in the exact same situation. He was patient at the plate and once the umpire signaled ball four, Kuhlman headed to first base and Fricke came down the line to score the soon-to-be winning run. 

Mount Pulaski's 7-6 lead going into the top of the seventh inning was enough, especially since Martin was absolutely filthy on the mound in that final inning. Martin was untouchable. He got one guy swinging at strike three and the other two simply looking. Buckled them at the knees. They couldn't even begin to catch up to what was being thrown at them.

The fastball was zooming by the Timberwolves and popping in Fricke's glove on a perfect evening at the historic Danville Stadium, a beautiful old ballpark that opened in 1946. Home of the Danville Dans, in fact.

On this night the stadium belonged to the Hilltoppers. A 7-6 win under the lights meant they were moving on to the Sectional Championship. 

Hilltoppers head coach Joel Washko  breathed a sigh of relief after the game and weighed in. "Tonight was a really gutsy performance from all our guys," he said. "Another true team victory. We got a solid start from Todd Kelly and three great relief innings from Drew Martin. Just like Saturday, I felt the bottom of our order really stepped up. They all put together very nice at bats, especially in the sixth inning where Fitzpatrick and Kuhlman drew game-tying and game-winning walks. Cissna Park played a really clean game and was a very difficult opponent. We are really excited to get an opportunity to play for a sectional championship on Saturday."

Final thoughts on the evening came from the Hilltoppers' Ian Schneider. "The energy was just phenomenal. You know, everybody, the starters, the bench players, everyone was just in it and we were all in it to win it and that's what it takes this time of the year you know. You wanna put some hardware in the trophy case and this is what it's gonna take. Hopefully there's more to come." 

Game time for Saturday's sectional  championship is 10 a.m. in Danville.  Mount Pulaski (23-5) takes on Salt Fork (19-2) for the championship. 

Good luck Hilltoppers!

[Teena Lowery]

Cissna Park

 

Lineup	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Keegan Boyle	3	2	1	0	1	0
Bailey Sluis	3	1	0	1	1	1
Ian Rogers	4	1	1	2	0	2
Mario Renteria	3	0	1	1	1	2
Connor Lober	4	0	0	0	0	1
Will Petry	3	0	0	0	0	1
Zane Pierce	2	0	0	0	0	1
Rudy King	1	0	0	0	0	1
Theran Blanck	1	0	0	0	2	0
Gavin Speirs	2	0	1	0	0	1
Malaki Verkler	0	0	0	0	0	0
Devin Hull	0	2	0	0	0	0
Dawson Savoree	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bryce Sluis	-	-	-	-	-	-
Totals	26	6	4	4	5	10

Batting2B: Mario Renteria 
3B: Keegan Boyle 
TB: Keegan Boyle 3, Mario Renteria 2, Ian Rogers, Gavin Speirs 
RBI: Mario Renteria, Ian Rogers 2, Bailey Sluis 
SAC: Gavin Speirs 
ROE: Keegan Boyle, Ian Rogers 
FC: Connor Lober 
SB: Keegan Boyle 2 
TotalsTeam QAB: 14 (43.75%) 
Theran Blanck 2, Keegan Boyle 2, Connor Lober, Will Petry, Mario Renteria 2, Ian Rogers, Bailey Sluis 3, Gavin Speirs 2 

Team LOB: 5

Mt. Pulaski

Lineup	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Todd Kelly	4	0	0	0	0	1
Drew Martin	3	2	2	0	0	0
Logan DeRight	1	3	0	0	2	0
Ben Fricke	3	2	2	1	1	0
Tanner Farris	1	0	0	2	1	1
Grant Davis	3	0	1	1	0	2
Garrett Fitzpatrick	2	0	1	2	2	1
Lucas Kuhlman	2	0	1	1	2	0
Jonathan Shehorn	3	0	0	0	0	3
Dawson Combs	-	-	-	-	-	-
Totals	22	7	7	7	8	8

Batting2B: Ben Fricke 
3B: Drew Martin 
TB: Garrett Fitzpatrick, Grant Davis, Ben Fricke 3, Drew Martin 4, Lucas Kuhlman 
RBI: Garrett Fitzpatrick 2, Grant Davis, Ben Fricke, Tanner Farris 2, Lucas Kuhlman 
SAC: Jonathan Shehorn 
SF: Tanner Farris 2 
HBP: Grant Davis, Logan DeRight, Drew Martin 
SB: Drew Martin 3 
TotalsTeam QAB: 25 (69.44%) 
Jonathan Shehorn 3, Garrett Fitzpatrick 4, Grant Davis, Logan DeRight 3, Ben Fricke 3, Drew Martin 2, Todd Kelly, Tanner Farris 4, Lucas Kuhlman 4 

Team LOB: 11FieldingE: Dawson Combs, Logan DeRight, Drew Martin 2 

Cissna Park

Pitching	IP	#P	S%	H	R	ER	SO	BB	HR
Mario Renteria	3.1	84	.548	5	5	5	4	4	0
Gavin Speirs	2.2	55	.455	2	2	2	4	4	0
Totals	6.0	139	.511	7	7	7	8	8	0

PitchingL: Gavin Speirs 
HBP: Mario Renteria 3 
Pitches-Strikes: Mario Renteria 84-46, Gavin Speirs 55-25 
Groundouts-Flyouts: Mario Renteria 2-3, Gavin Speirs 3-1 
First pitch strikes-Batters faced: Mario Renteria 15-22, Gavin Speirs 6-14 

Mt. Pulaski

Pitching	IP	#P	S%	H	R	ER	SO	BB	HR
Todd Kelly	4.0	76	.566	3	5	3	3	4	0
Drew Martin	3.0	48	.646	1	1	1	7	1	0
Totals	7.0	124	.597	4	6	4	10	5	0

PitchingW: Drew Martin 
WP: Drew Martin, Todd Kelly 
BK: Todd Kelly 
Pitches-Strikes: Drew Martin 48-31, Todd Kelly 76-43 
Groundouts-Flyouts: Drew Martin 2-0, Todd Kelly 6-2 
First pitch strikes-Batters faced: Drew Martin 9-11, Todd Kelly 12-21