Dialog reporter
WILMINGTON – Kyle Hinton settled down after a shaky start to Tuesday’s game against the Charter School of Wilmington, leading Salesianum to a 6-2 nonconference baseball win. Hinton surrendered just four hits and struck out 10 in six innings of work against the Force as the Sals won their fifth straight.
Charter (7-5) came out swinging, jumping out to a 2-0 lead before many of the spectators had even arrived. Jeff Wood, the Force’s lanky first baseman, collected both runs batted in when he drilled a triple to right-center field, although he was stranded at third. Hinton was perfect over the next three innings, striking out six of the nine batters he faced.
Offensively, the Sals began their comeback in the third inning, and they scored in that frame and each one thereafter. The Sals’ first run scored when Dante Cautillo lifted a sacrifice fly to center that brought home Brendan Rybaltowski. Rybaltowski led off the inning with a line single to left, advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt and taking third on a wild pitch.
Salesianum tied things up in their next at bat. Joshua Wiley started the action with a single and was lifted for a courtesy runner, Zachary Gilcrest. The next batter, Sean Courtney, bounced a ball to second base. The fielder appeared to look up before the ball was in his glove, and both runners were safe on the error, one of three committed by Charter. Hinton flied to center, with Gilcrest tagging and advancing to third. That paid off when Gilcrest scored on a wild pitch.
Hinton hit the first batter of the fifth inning, ending his string of perfect innings, but he escaped any damage. He received a boost from his catcher, Zachary Miller, who made a spectacular diving, bare-handed catch of an attempted sacrifice bunt for the first out. Hinton threw a wild pitch and walked a batter, but he retired the next two batters on fly balls.
The Sals took the lead for good in their half of the fifth. Cautillo picked up a one-out bunt single and, after an errant pickoff attempt moved him to second, scored on a double by Miller. Brian Abram replaced Miller as a courtesy runner and promptly stole third, then came home on a sacrifice fly by Andrew deLaveaga. Salesianum added two insurance runs in the sixth, and Nolan O’Neill tossed a scoreless seventh to seal the victory.
Rybaltowski went 2-for-3 with a triple and a RBI in addition to the run he scored. Courtney also was 2-for-3 with a double and a run batted in. Salesianum, which improved to 9-3, looks for revenge in their next game as the team faces archrival St. Mark’s at Frawley Stadium under the lights at 7 p.m. The Spartans were the last team to defeat the Sals, 4-3 on April 23, also at Frawley. Salesianum will be the visiting team this week.
