Nine Run First Leads Warriors Past Raiders

The Watchung Hills baseball team extended their winning streak to eight games when they defeated Hillsborough 9-2 on Thursday afternoon at Watchung Hills high school.  Joey Rocchietti got the win for the Warriors, who are now 9-3 on the season.

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Final

Hillsborough (6-5)

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Watchung Hills (9-3)

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IN SHORT

The Warriors scored all their runs in the first inning when they sent 12 batters to the plate.  Frank Urso had two hits in the inning when he hit a double in his first at bat and then a two-run home run in his second.  Cody Hinds also went deep with his three-run homer that gave the Warriors a comfortable 6-0 lead.

WARRIOR OF THE GAME

Joey Rocchietti-The sophomore pitched six strong innings, giving up only one run on four hits.  He also had one strikeout and one walk and kept the Hillsborough lineup off balance all game.

“Joey’s got great location on all of his pitches.  He throws a real nice cutter that moves.  He works very fast  and that’s the name of the game and a big part of his effectiveness.”-Head Coach Mario Diez

OTHER KEY PERFORMANCES

Frank Urso-2-3 with a double, a two-run home run and two runs scored.

Cody Hinds-1-4 with a three run home run

Nick Rivera-1-3 with a double and two RBI’s.  He also finished the game for Rocchietti pitching one inning and giving up one earned run on two hits.

THEY SAID IT

“It was just another big game for us.  We scored early, played good defense and got good pitching against a very good team so I’m very pleased with our performance.”-Diez

“We swung at fastballs.  We hit the fastballs and laid off the off-speed pitches and just hit the ball where it was pitched.”-Assistant Coach Joe Tremarco

UP NEXT-The Warriors will play Montgomery in the quarterfinals of the Somerset County Tournament.  The game will be played at Watchung Hills high school on Saturday at 3 p.m.