HAMILTON — The Nottingham High varsity baseball team probably should not have won its game at the Galaxy Tuesday, and its opponent from West Windsor-Plainsboro High South probably should not have lost.
In truth, this probably should have been the Colonial Valley Conference’s second tie of the 2025 season. Yet the way baseball in these parts still is amid the unpredictable weather this spring, that was not how the game between the Northstars and Pirates ended.
After three hours and 20 minutes of baseball, WW-P South relief pitcher Bennett Siegel got the fly ball he wanted with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning of a tie game with Nottingham pinch runner Gabe Bitner on third base.
Even though the wind had been howling all game, the ball was catchable, but it was not caught. Bitner crossed the plate to give the Northstars, who had trailed by five runs after four innings, an 11-10 victory.
“We were a little dead in the middle of the game, then Coach (Charlie Iacono) got on us,” said Nottingham junior infielder Ethan Miller, who had four runs batted in. “We know we can win. We have a lot of confidence in each other. We were just leaving guys out there.”
That all changed after the visitors scored two runs in the third and four runs in the fourth on the strength of a run-scoring triple (third) and a two-run single (fourth) by Xander Rudisill, plus two RBIs from Thor Bernheisel and a solo home run from Nihan Palla.
Down, 6-1, after four innings, things began to change in the bottom of the fifth after a spirited meeting with their head coach. With one out, Aidan Lipman and Brandon Rigas singled. Then with two outs, Pirates starting pitcher Henry Hamm struggled with his control.
Alex “Danny” Alonzo and Luca Gaglione walked before pinch hitter Miller was hit by a pitch, the last two forcing in runs. Bernheisel took over on the mound, but walked the first two batters he faced. Suddenly, the home team was within, 6-5.
When head coach Joe Gambino’s WW-P South club did not score again in the top of the sixth, the home side started another rally when a pair of ground balls were not fielded. Alonzo walked with one out, and the Pirates cut down one run at the plate before Miller doubled with two outs to clear the bases and put the Northstars up, 8-6.
The seventh inning saw WW-P South bat around after Hamm led off with a strikeout, but got on when the third strike got away. The Pirates went on to score four times on RBI singles from Aiden Choi and Siegel around a two-run hit from Jonah Kasof.
But Nottingham rallied again with the help of another error and three walks. Lipman’s single loaded the bases ahead of consecutive walks by Rigas and Nick Gaglione, which knotted the game at 10.
“Errors and walks hurt us,” said Xander Rudisill, who went 3-for-4 with a run scored and three RBIs to pace WW-P South. “Hitting’s not the issue. We’ve been having some trouble on the defensive side.”
Northstars’ freshman Austin Wright, who went from catcher to pitcher, retired the Pirates in order in the top of the eighth before the visitors’ fifth error of the day proved costly.
WW-P South (3-4) 002 400 40 — 10 11 5
Nottingham (4-2) 001 043 21 — 11 5 2
2B: Raeter 2 (WWS), Lipman, Miller (N); 3B: Rudisill (WWS); HR: Palla (WWS); RBIs: Kasof 2, Siegel, XRudisill 3, Bernheisel 2, Palla, Choi (WWS), Rigas, NGaglione, LGaglione, Miller 4, Quinones, Formica (N).
WP — Wright (1-1); LP — Siegel (1-2).
ROBBINSVILLE 14, TRENTON 2
TRENTON — Winning pitcher Hayden Perusich helped his own cause by knocking in two runs, while Matt Boss doubled and drove in three runs as the Ravens defeated the Tornadoes in five innings.
Liansel Perez doubled and scored a run for Trenton.
Robbinsville(4-3-1) 530 51 — 14 13 0
Trenton (2-5) 100 10 — 2 2 2
2B: Schwartz, Boss, Sullivan (R), Perez (T); RBIs: Wysokowski, Boss 3, Perusich 2, Keating 2 (R).
WP — Perusich (1-0); LP — Perez (0-3).
HIGHTSTOWN 10, PEDDIE 0
HIGHTSTOWN — Alex Werden and Michael Guarino each had two hits and three RBIs to power the Rams to a six-inning win over the Falcons.
Noah Francisco tossed a complete-game shutout.
Peddie (1-5) 000 000 — 0 5 4
Hightstown (7-1) 010 351 — 10 11 0
2B: Guarino (H); RBIs: Guarino 3, Werden 3, Drews, Vinson, Krier (H).
WP — Francisco (2-0); LP — Treese (0-1).
NORTHERN BURLINGTON 13, RIVERSIDE 0
RIVERSIDE — Logan Downey tossed a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts as the Greyhounds defeated the Rams in five innings.
Jaden Freeze went 3-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and four RBIs for Northern.
No.Burlington(8-0) 053 32 — 13 12 0
Riverside (5-3) 000 00 — 0 0 2
2B: Marchetti, Velit, Filipponi, JFreeze (NB); RBIs: Marchetti, Mannino, Musser, Velit, Caloiaro, Walulak 2, JFreeze 4, Gilligo 2 (NB).
WP — Downey (2-0); LP — Stillwaggon.
