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Wild pitch puts Tigers ahead in 11-5 victory over Quakers
(Published April 19, 2004)

By DAVID STEINBACHER
Special to The Common Denominator

A third-inning wild pitch helped the Wilson Tigers get past the Sidwell Friends Quakers 11-5 on April 17 during an early season non-league baseball contest for the two D.C. schools.

The visiting Tigers, coached by veteran Eddie Saah, improved to 3-5 on the young season. The homestanding Quakers, coached by John Simon (third season), dropped to 1-6 overall.

The Tigers entered the top of the third inning nursing a 4-1 lead (the Quakers had led 1-0 after the first inning). In the decisive third inning, Wilson freshman pitcher Ian Horkley led off and reached first base via an error. Junior second baseman Tom Moore and junior third baseman Nick Morison both drew walks, which loaded the bases.

Junior shortstop Tom McCarthy was hit by a pitch, which scored Horkley [Wilson 5-1]. Junior first baseman Carl Barth eventually lined out, but during Barth's visit to the plate, Moore scored what proved to be the winning run via a wild pitch [Wilson 6-1]. Freshman right fielder Ian Collins drew a walk and Morison eventually scored [Wilson 7-1].

In one of the biggest swings of the season thus far, junior center fielder Rafael Turner unloaded his second homerun of the contest -- a three-run blast. Turner hit the long shot over the right field fence, scoring himself as well as McCarthy and Collins. With Turner's shot, Wilson led 10-1 and took most of the suspense out of the game.

"The count was two balls-two strikes. He threw a fast ball on the inside of the plate about knee level. I hit it pretty good," said a pleased Turner.

To Sidwell's credit, they narrowed the deficit to 10-5 in the bottom of the third, but got no closer.

After a scoreless fourth and fifth, Ian Horkley drew a walk in the top of the sixth and subsequently stole both second and third base. The freshman scored the games final run via a wild pitch [Wilson 11-5].

On the day, Wilson banged out six hits (five for extra bases): Turner - a three-run homer in the second and a three-run homer in the third; Barth - two doubles; Horkley - one double and Collins - one single.

On the day, Sidwell banged out three hits: senior catcher Conor Rook a three-run triple in the bottom of the third; senior center fielder Ben Freidman and junior shortstop Ben Zweifach - one single apiece.

Defensively for Wilson, Horkley pitched the final 18 outs and picked up the win, after senior Tommy Vladek pitched inning number one.

"I felt good today. My fast ball was working well," said Horkley.

"Ian has good command of his fastball and also has a good changeup," said Coach Saah.

Junior catcher Colgate Sonderman caught a brilliant game for Wilson.

"After starting the season 0-5, our pitching and our defense has been very good these past three games," said Sonderman.

"To have a successful season, we need to stay consistent and we need to make some big plays in the field," said Rafael Turner.

Defensively for Sidwell, sophomore Daniel White, sophomore Devon Rook (Conor's brother) and senior Chris Renninger shared the pitching duties. Rook picked up the loss.

"We simply allowed too many walks, passed balls and wild pitches today," said Coach Simon, who also coaches the Quakers' football team.

NOTES: On the season, the DCIAA's Wilson has defeated: Georgetown Day 11-10 (Tom Vladek picked up the win; Tom Moore got the game-winning RBI) and has also defeated Cardozo 17-10 (Nick Morison picked up the win). On the season, Sidwell has defeated St. James (senior Chris Channock picked up the win).

Wilson has won its past 72 consecutive DCIAA contests, and hopes to claim another DCIAA baseball title this season -- led by co-captains Vladek and senior left fielder Gabby Baker.

"Our goal is to win another DCIAA title this year," said Coach Saah.

For Sidwell, both Conor Rook and sophomore pitcher/outfielder Ben Sestanovich are batting nearly .400 on the season.

"We've got all of the pieces - we just need to put them together [in order to get into the win column more frequently]," said Sestanovich.

"Right now - our defense overall is ahead of our offense. Conor and Ben are very good players, but we need to start swinging the bat and hitting the ball more consistently. There's a lot of the season left. Ben
Sestanovich, Chris Channock and Chris Renninger are good pitchers. We need to make sure that we put all of the right people into the right spots [position wise]," said Coach Simon.