BBC NON-LEAGUE MATCHUP … Hilltop’s Micah Rossman leads off in the fourth inning of an 11-1 win over Fayette.
(PHOTOS BT JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
HOME CONTEST … Fayette’s Wyatt Bieber fights off a pitch during an at-bat last week versus Hilltop.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
FAYETTE (May 8, 2025) – With Montpelier and Edgerton the odds-on favorites to be the first and second seeds in the Division VII District draw, there are three teams battling for the last two home seeds.
Hilltop put themselves in the mix with an 11-1, five-inning win over Fayette to go to 9-8 on the season.
“Absolutely, it’s always important to come out and get ‘W’s”, Cadet coach Tony Gerig expressed. “This one puts us above the .500 mark which is always a goal for us.”
“To be on that trend to finish strong in the next two weeks is all preparation for the tournament, getting ourselves in the right frame of mind to put our best foot forward.”
Cameron Schlosser was dominant in the win, striking out 13 Eagles and allowing just two hits and no walks.
One of those hits was Mason Leininger’s leadoff single in the bottom of the first, which after he stole second, went to third on a dropped third strike to Caden Leininger, where the catcher had to make the throw to first, and scored on a wild pitch for the Eagles only run.
That run only sliced into what was a 4-0 lead as Hilltop got to Carter Lavinder for four first inning runs. After a walk, Terry Rebeck tripled to deep left for one run, then Rebeck scored on a passed ball for a second.
Cameron Shimp beat out an infield hit and after moving into scoring position on another passed ball, rode home on Anthony Jiannuzzi’s base hit.
Jiannuzzi came to roost after two more walks and a bounce out to make it 4-0. Hilltop added three more in the next two innings without getting a hit.
Two walks, a wild pitch and Shimp’s sac fly got one home in the second, then two walks, a hit batter, an error and a fly ball from Schlosser got the pair in the third.
Jiannuzzi’s double around three more walks in the fourth and two more passed balls made it 9-1 and the Cadets got to the 10-run bulge in the fifth on an RBI hit from Shimp and Brennan Dempsey’s ground out.
“Cameron was great on the hill today,” Gerig exclaimed. “And I thought when strikes were given to us we hit the ball hard. I liked what we did today, and I really liked the energy we had.”
Hilltop had just six hits on the day, but Lavinder issued eight walks and hit three more Cadets to aid the Hilltop offense.
HHS 412 22 – 11 6 1
FHS 100 00 – 1 2 0
Records: HHS 9-8, FHS 3-11
WINNING PITCHER: Schlosser (5 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 0 earned, 0 walks, 13 strikeouts)
LOSING PITCHER: Carter Lavinder (3.2 innings, 5 hits, 9 runs, 7 earned,. 8 walks, 2 strikeouts) Other: M. Leininger
LEADING HITTERS: (Hilltop) Rebeck – triple, RBI, 2 runs; Jiannuzzi – 2 singles, 2 runs; Shimp – 2 hits, RBI; (Fayette) – 2 singles