Late-season winning streak gives Penn Hills baseball hope for future

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, May 23, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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Anthony Scuilli thought the season finale was a good representation of this year’s Penn Hills baseball team.

The Indians showed plenty of glimpses of their offensive potential during a wild 10-8 nonsection win over Knoch on May 13 at home. Penn Hills also had several lapses — on defense and the basepaths — that threatened its victory late.

The Indians (5-13) rallied when it mattered to close out the year with three straight wins and build momentum for next season.

“There were a lot of letdowns this year,” Scuilli said. “It could have been better. We are a hell of a team. We didn’t hit through the season, and it showed. We figured it out at the end, but it was a little too late.”

The Knights made Penn Hills’ seniors sweat from the first inning on. Knoch plated a run and had the bases loaded before Indians senior pitcher Josh Gerken worked out of the inning with two strikeouts.

Gerken would later belt a three-run home run in the fourth inning, putting Penn Hills ahead for good, 8-5.

“We fought back and had to based on how Knoch was driving people in,” Gerken said. “We stayed together as a team and that was huge. It was the last game of the season and we were fired up.”

Penn Hills extended the lead to 10-5 when Jordan Sullivan and Dominic Sullivan drew bases-loaded walks in the sixth inning.

The Indians had several other scoring chances wiped out on the base-running mistakes. Penn Hills sent four batters to the plate in the third inning and three of them singled. The Indians had to settle for one run, on a single by Sullivan, because one runner was caught in a fielder’s choice trying to take an extra base and another didn’t return to first base and was doubled off on a fly ball.

Penn Hills coach Rodney Stubbs said he felt his team was over-excited on the basepaths. The Indians put a lot of balls in play and finished with 10 hits.

“That’s the first time that happened all season,” Stubbs said. “It was the last game of the season. Everyone wants to score a run.”

Penn Hills had to survive the seventh.

After the first Knoch batter flew out, the second reached on a dropped fly ball, which was Penn Hills’ fourth error of the game.

The Knights then drew two walks. One batter later, Isaac Roddy delivered a two-run single and Gavin Phillips drove in another run with a single to cut the lead to two.

Penn Hills then got Luke DiSanti to strike out to seal the win.

“That’s how it’s been all year,” Scuilli said. “We had ups and downs battling. In the final game, we showcased how we handled adversity, and it worked out in the end.”

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