Hilltoppers Defeat Linden in Last Regular Season Game

SUMMIT—The Summit American Legion baseball team played Linden in their last regular-season game Thursday evening at Memorial Field.  The Hilltoppers put the game away early, and defended well against an attempted rally in the fifth inning. Summit won 5-3.

"I liked that we didn't quit and we played a full seven innings," said head coach Will Hannis. "If we eliminated the small stuff we probably would have played a little bit more flawless baseball, but a win is a win."

The Hilltoppers were led by pitcher Michael Nitzberg, who pitched for all seven innings.  Linden was able to get their bat on the ball, but was held scoreless in the first inning.  Their first batter hit a fly out to center field, the second hit a fly out to the short stop, the third batter singled, and the fourth batter struck out swinging.

"I always try to throw strikes," said Nitzberg, on his strategy. "I'll let them hit and let the field take it and make the play on it.  I just try to throw strikes.  (Linden) was making contact but hitting it right to our fielders, so they weren't really threatening because of that."

In the bottom of the first, Nick Abbott tried to get things going for the Hilltoppers with a double, but Linden's defense did not allow anyone else on base.  The game moved into the second inning tied, 0-0.

Linden tried to scare Summit in the top of the second.  They led off with a single, reached first on an error, and successfully bunted to load the bases.  The Hilltoppers responded quickly.  Catcher Andrew Perry took care of a pop up for the first out.  The next batter laid down a nice bunt, but the runner coming home tried to run Perry over and was automatically out.  The Hilltoppers caught a fly ball for the final out of the inning, stranding all three base-runners.

The Hilltoppers stepped up their game.  Matt Scheer was walked to start the inning off.  Perry took first when he was hit by a pitch.  Scheer stole third base to put the Hilltoppers in scoring position with no outs.  A wild throw allowed Scheer to take home and Perry to advance to second.  Frank Lawrence was walked, then Sean Hagan sacrificed a hit to bring Perry home.  Nitzberg was walked, then Ben Fine beat out the throw to first and brought Lawrence home.  Abbott singled, giving Nitzberg the opportunity to cross home plate.  James Baumeister was walked to load the bases, then Scheer took a hit to bring Fine in for the last run of the inning.  The Hilltoppers ended the inning up 5-0.

Despite the commanding lead the Hilltoppers had built, Linden refused to give up.  Their second batter up singled to left field, stole second, and took third on a fielding error.  He came in on a fielder's choice for the only run of the inning.  The Hilltoppers went three-and-out to bring the inning to a close.  The third inning ended with Summit leading 5-1.

"It's hard sometimes to keep your head in it, and you try to overthrow," said Nitzberg. "My catcher, Andrew Perry, comes out and makes me walk around a little bit, take a few breaths, and go back to just throwing strikes."

Summit contained Linden in the fourth inning, not allowing any hits.  Though the Hilltoppers allowed two runners on base, they did not give up any runs in the fourth.  Though they did not give up any hits, they were unable to get any.  Abbott made it to first on an error, but the inning ended without any more action.

Linden tried to rally in the fifth inning, when their number three batter led off with a double deep into left field.  A fielding error allowed the third batter to safely reach first, then a wild throw brought both runners in.  The Hilltoppers quickly took care of the last two outs, and moved into the bottom of the fifth.  Though they were unable to get anything more going, they ended the inning still up 5-3.

"Going into our play-off game we're going to work on eliminating those mental mistakes, eliminating those errors," said Hannis. "We need to work for the little hit.  It seemed like a lot of guys were looking for the big hit, when all we needed was a little knock and we would have been fine.  So we're just going to go out and try to eliminiate those little errors in the next game."

Neither team would score again, and the game ended with a win for Summit.  The Hilltoppers will take to the field again next week in the Legion Playoffs.  Stay tuned to Patch for updates.