Northside starting pitcher Matt Culicerto knew his second extra inning on the mound was going to be his last chance to pick up a win.
Tuesday afternoon at Viking Field, the talented senior left-hander literally took things into his own hands.
Battling in a 2-2 deadlock with fellow-lefty Kendall Kessinger into the bottom of the ninth, Culicerto sent a one-out Kessinger offering high over the right field fence as Northside topped the Mountaineers 4-2 in a Conference 31 first round tournament matchup.
The two-run blast came with a price tag. A jog around the bases with a huge smile, a mob-scene greeting party by his Viking teammates at the plate, and the requisite water cooler bath as he talked to reporters. Welcome to Conference 31 postseason, Matt.
“For a second I thought it might be over the fence,” Culicerto noted as the celebration continued outside the Viking dugout. “I hit it good and was pretty happy when I saw it get out.”
“We had already decided Matt was finished on the mound when he got through the top of the ninth,” Northside head Coach Ed Culicerto (Matt’s cousin) pointed out after the game. “He had thrown 114 pitches at that point.”
“There was some good pitching out here today,” the elder Culicerto added. “Kendall Kessinger….wow, what a thrower. We couldn’t have had a tougher matchup today. Alleghany has one of the best baseball programs in the state. We beat them 1-0 and 3-0 in the regular season. Now, 4-2 in nine innings.”
Northside never led until Culicerto’s shot found its resting place in the parking lot past the fence, scoring Nathan Arnold in front of him who had doubled earlier in the final frame.
Culicerto battled all evening on the mound after a somewhat shakey first inning. Three walks and a double had given Alleghany the early 2-0 lead and Northside went into comeback mode.
The Vikings cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the first on a RBI single by Daniel Brammer. Dylan Tyler tied things up at 2 on a RBI double into the left field corner in the Northside fourth.
Alleghany had leadoff singles in the second, third, fourth, sixth and seventh, but could never manufacture another run.
The Northside infield was sharp all afternoon, continually coming up with big plays on grounders that kept the Mountaineers at bay.
Ben Plunkett had two hits in the Northside attack. Culicerto had eight strikeouts in picking up the win, matching Kessinger’s eight Ks for Alleghany.
Northside advances to play Lord Botetourt in a Conference 31 semifinal later this week.
Bill Turner