Hersey takes advantage at Stevenson

It was a pretty rough outing defensively for both host Stevenson and Hersey on Monday afternoon in their nonconference baseball game.

But when all was said and done, the visiting Huskies limited the self-imposed damage and captured an 8-3 victory in a contest which was called after six innings due to darkness.

Hersey (5-4) got on the scoreboard in the top of the first when Tyler Perkowitz led off with a single off of Stevenson starting pitcher Josh Reichel. With one out, Hersey starter Joe Perricone hit a towering 2-run homer just over the 355-foot sign in left-center field.

Stevenson (6-2) bounced back with an unearned run in the bottom of the second as Jacob Sholl led off with a single before eventually scoring on a passed ball to cut the lead to 2-1.

Then the Patriots got another unearned run off of Perricone in the bottom of the third as Steve Galanopoulos reached base on a two-out infield error to keep the inning alive.

Sholl and Max Golembo followed with walks before pinch runner Anthony D’Angelo and Sholl moved up with stolen bases. Adam Walton’s single to center scored D’Angelo and Sholl and Stevenson led 3-2 after three innings.

But the Huskies tied the game in the top of the fourth with an unearned run when Mike Danielak hit a bloop single and later scored on a two-out error on a tough play for the Stevenson second baseman.

That was the first of 4 errors by the Pats in the game as their defense really let them down overall.

“We didn’t execute our pitches and we had at least 4 errors and I thought we were flat,” said Stevenson coach Paul Mazzuca. “We did not do anything right so we got what we deserved.”

After walking the first man he faced, Perricone was replaced by winning pitcher Aaron DeGeorge with a 3-0 count in the bottom of the fourth.

And DeGeorge proved to be just what Hersey needed as he would allow no runs and only a one-out double by Ricky Kern in the sixth to pick up the victory.

The Huskies offense got going against Stevenson reliever Grady Suerth in the top of the fifth as Perricone led off with a single before moving to second when the left fielder missed the cut-off man.

Then Sean Thompson was hit by a pitch before Danielak’s RBI single drove in Perricone with the winning run. An errant pick-off attempt made the score 5-3 before Erik Stoltzner’s RBI single down the left-field line made the score 6-3.

“Consistency has been my thing all year and I felt pretty good the first two innings,” said Perricone, who was surprised by his 2-run homer. “But I’m not too worried about it because we got the win and DeGeorge looked good today.”

Hersey added two insurance runs in the top of the sixth off of Zach Gordon as Perricone walked and Thompson was hit by another pitch.

Stoltzner’s fielder’s choice RBI with one out drove in Perricone for a 7-3 lead, but when the throw went wild, another run scored for a commanding 8-3 advantage.

“A win is a win, we’ll take it and any time you can beat Stevenson it’s a good day,” said Hersey coach Bob Huber, whose team outhit the Pats 9-4. “We did have some scoring opportunities which is good. But we still have to do better in the batters box and we need to be more aggressive and have a better understanding of the strike zone.”