Five-Run Fifth Inning Lifts Hinsdale Central Past Richards

April 28, 2017

By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

Hinsdale Central 7, Richards 5

HINSDALE, IL – Richards had the game in hand until Hinsdale Central scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, ultimately holding on to win 7-5 on Friday afternoon.

Trailing 4-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, the Hinsdale Central offense finally came to life. Eight batters came to the plate in the frame with the two big hits coming from Peter Pigatti and Andrew Zapka. Pigatti was first, delivering a two out, two-run single scoring Kyle Wisch and Jared Cook, cutting the lead to 4-3. Then with two on, Zapka followed up with a three-run homerun, giving the Red Devils a 6-4 lead.

Richards got on top of Hinsdale Central with two runs in the third and two more in the top of the fifth. In the third inning, Donivan Williams, an Illinois State commit, took a first pitch breaking ball and drove it over the right-center field fence for a two-run homerun. The homerun gave Richards a 2-1 lead at the time. In the fifth, Richards took a 4-1 lead when Tom Olson singled home a run and Noah Petrusevski followed with an RBI double. Richards continued to threaten with runners on second and third and only one out. Matt Deiss came out of the bullpen for Hinsdale Central and struck out the next two hitters to end the threat.

Richards was down 7-4 entering the top of the seventh inning and made things interesting. Williams collected his third hit of the night to lead things off. After two consecutive outs, the next three batters reached base, including an RBI single by Jake Moran, cutting the lead to 7-5. Wisch, the Hinsdale Central reliever, was able to strike out the following batter with the bases loaded to preserve the 7-5 win for the Red Devils.

Williams went 3-for-4 with a homerun, double, two RBI and two runs scored to lead the way for Richards.

Zapka, a Heartland CC commit, finished 2-for-2 with the big three-run home run, and four RBI to pace the Red Devil offense.

For more in-depth notes from the game - and all other games that we cover - visit the Illinois Scout Blog later.