P.K. Yonge baseball shut out Hawthorne on Wednesday night in a dominant display to run-rule the Hornets 10-0.
The night started with an acapella rendition of the national anthem from the stands when the PA system didn’t seem very patriotic, followed by P.K. Yonge coach Rob Brunson turning to the stands and electrifying the crowd. It was a movie-like start to the Blue Wave’s fifth consecutive win.
Sophomore pitcher Nico Wheeler set the tone early for the Blue Wave (7-2). Hawthorne (4-6) managed just one walk in the top of the first inning before Wheeler recorded a key strikeout finalized by a nasty curveball to shut down Hawthorne.
Wheeler (2-0) finished with 10 strikeouts and only allowed one hit in the five innings, crushing Hawthorne’s hopes of a road win.
P.K. Yonge built momentum in the bottom half of the inning when Tyler Belleville drove in the game’s first run and Charlie Tumminia followed with a double to give the Blue Wave a 3-0 lead.
“When you do that and put the ball in play like we did, you should definitely get a W,” Brunson said.
The opposing dugout was loud all night. Shouts criticizing Wheeler’s pitch velocity, size and age only fueled the fire for the young ace to dominate.
“I was getting a little angry because they were talking in the dugout,” Wheeler said. “So I was kind of using that as fuel to put more velo on the ball, throw it harder and pound the zone.”
As a senior on a young team, Tumminia has stepped into a leadership role.
“I’m just here to hype these youngins up,” Tumminia said, “to be a leader, to make sure they go up there with a good approach and don’t get down on themselves.”
He didn’t just lead, the veteran ended the night with a double, two RBI, three runs and a walk, a stellar night for the only senior starter on the squad.
“It’s him being dedicated in practice, getting as many reps as he can,” Brunson said. “You can just tell he wants it this year. You can see a change from last year to this year. This is his year. He knows it. He’s going to go all out.”
The Blue Wave capitalized on Hawthorne’s errors to win the season series. Gerardo Barrios extended the lead when his bases-loaded liner was misplayed by the left fielder to allow three runs to score , pushing the lead to 7-0. The ball shot off his bat, rocketed to the outfield and just slipped through the left fielder’s glove, but the eighth-grader pushed his luck a little too much, getting thrown out trying to advance to third on the play.
“Our pitchers put the ball where they needed to, gave us a chance to make some plays, but when we give up seven errors, there’s just no way,” Hawthorne coach Matt Surrency said. “You shouldn’t win a ball game if you give up seven errors.”
Hawthorne struggled to contain P.K. Yonge’s offense, cycling through pitchers as the Blue Wave continued to apply pressure at the plate.
As the fifth closed with a pop fly to short, caught by Colt Kramer, the Blue Wave didn’t get ready to head to the batter’s box, they got ready to go home. The game ended in a run-rule for P.K. and a night to forget for the Hornets finally concluded.
Hawthorne hosts Peniel Baptist Academy Thursday at 6 p.m. and P.K. Yonge hosts Saint Francis Catholic Academy (8-2) at 6 p.m. Friday.
