SMALL BALL … Hilltop’s Toby Hartman drops a bunt in the Cadets’ 6-5 win over North Central.
(PHOTOS BY BREANA RELIFORD / THE VILLGE REPORTER)
WILLIAMS COUNTY ACME … North Central starting pitcher Alex St. John fields the ball before throwing to first base in North Central’s ACME game at Hilltop on June 23.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
WEST UNITY (June 23, 2025) – It seemed as if all game long Hilltop should have been in control of an ACME contest with North Central.
Problem was, the Cadets ran themselves out of scoring chances a number of times before the Eagles gave them one more opportunity with no recourse, as a botched play on Camryn Nichols’ ground ball brought across the winning run in a 6-5 Hilltop win.
Some shaky defense aided North Central early as they scored a pair of runs in each of the first two innings against Cameron Shimp.
Thane Martin’s leadoff single, a pair of stolen bases, and Logan Clark’s RBI single gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead in the first.
Clark took second on a fielding error on his hit and then came around to score on an errant throw when he tried to steal third.
Hilltop cut the gap in half on Shimp’s sacrifice fly after Alex St. John plunked Brady Wagner, who stole second and went to third on a wild pitch.
The Eagles added two more in the second to go up 4-1. Carson Nixon led off with a single and came home on Brody Taylor’s double.
Taylor then circled all the way home on a throwing error to put the Eagles up three. For the next four innings, Shimp buckled down on the mound, allowing just one hit.
At the plate, Wagner’s run scoring single in the third made it 4-2. Nichols led off with a base hit in the fourth, but on Toby Hartman’s bunt, Nichols tried to go one base too many and was an easy out at third to waste that chance.
Hilltop came back to tie with two runs in the fifth but could’ve had a few more. St. John walked Micah Rossman to finish his night on the hill and Brennan Dempsey greeted Nixon with a sharp single to left that made it first and third.
Anthony Jiannuzzi’s fly ball scored one run and Dempsey stole second to put another in scoring position. However, on Wagner’s grounder to short, Dempsey was tagged out in a rundown for the second out of the inning.
Shimp picked up his teammate in a big way, when after a passed ball that put Wagner on second, he bounced a ground rule double over the left-center wall to tie the game.
A throwing error, walk and a defensive indifference put runners at second and third, but during Nichols’ at-bat, Shimp tried to steal home and was tagged out for the final out of the frame.
Toby Hartman’s single, steal of second and a pair of wild pitches put Hilltop ahead in the bottom of the sixth.
With one down in the seventh, Shimp put two Eagles on base with two outs, and Garrett Shockley served a single to right on a two-strike pitch to knot the game.
Jiannuzzi led off the bottom of the seventh with a single but after two fly balls, he still stood at first. A wild pitch got him to second and after Ezra Mahlman walked, a passed ball moved up both runners.
Nichols then hit a bouncer to short that was mishandled allowing him to reach first as the winning run crossed the plate to give the Cadets the win.
Shimp went the distance for the win, striking out seven and walking four. Nixon took the hard luck loss for the Eagles.
NC 220 000 1 – 5 5 2
HLLT 101 021 1 – 6 7 2
Records: North Central 1-2, Hilltop 3-4
WINNING PITCHER: Shimp (7 innings, 5 hits, 5 runs, 5 earned, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts)
LOSING PITCHER: Nixon (1.1 innings, 2 hits, 2 runs, 0 earned, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts) Other: St. John
LEADING HITTERS: (North Central) Clark – single, RBI; Taylor – double, RBI; Shockley – single, RBI; (Hilltop) Shimp – double, 2 RBIs; Wagner – 2 singles, RBI, 2 runs