Penn Hills baseball focused on future

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, May 16, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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Penn Hills baseball got the offensive jolt it needed during its final Section 2-5A series of the season.

Facing rival Woodland Hills, the Indians plated 20 runs in two games to close the section schedule on a positive note with 14-4 and 6-3 victories.

The 14 runs in the first game was a season-high and only the second time the Indians reached double figures. Penn Hills handed St. Joseph a 10-1 defeat April 23.

While consistently scoring in double figures is an impossible standard, Indians coach Rodney Stubbs thought the outburst showed the capabilities of his offense.

Collectively, the Indians (4-13, 3-9) were hitting .207 entering the matchup with the Wolverines. Finding a way to rack up more hits would help Penn Hills get into the win column more consistently.

“We had a few games that came down to the end. We lost to Mars 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning,” Stubbs said. “It’s not like it was in the past. We were more competitive this year. We were fighting more this year. We didn’t hit as a team throughout the whole season.”

Penn Hills closed the season with a nonsection game against Knoch last Wednesday. Results from that game were too late for this edition.

The Indians started section play strong, producing a 9-4 victory over Hampton. But in the eight section games that followed, Penn Hills only scored more than two runs during a 9-5 loss to Plum on April 26 at home.

Against the Wolverines, Anthony Scuilli helped lead a reinvigorated offense.

Sciulli, whom Stubbs said hit over .400 for the season, went 6 for 7 against Woodland Hills.

“We hit the ball much better than we did for most of the season,” Stubbs said.

When it comes to making improvements on offense, Stubbs is encouraging his guys to be calm. Penn Hills’ struggles in the box popped up throughout the season.

“These guys are going to wait on their pitch,” Stubbs said. “I want them to be more relaxed and more selective with what pitches they hit.”

Stubbs said Penn Hills was hoping to utilize the Knoch game to show what it can do moving forward. The Indians have made progress, but will have more work to do to challenge for their first winning season since 2014 and first WPIAL playoff spot since 2010 next year.

“Knoch is going to show me what we have to work with for the ’22 season,” Stubbs said.

Tags: Penn Hills