Mound Gem
Moniteau's Hunter Fitzingo was recently named the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference's baseball MVP, but that recognition added no extra pressure as he took the mound Thursday in a District 9 semifinal against rival Karns City.
“It's a blessing to be named MVP, but I wasn't thinking about it,” he said. “I was focused on this game, on what I needed to do.”
That attention to detail yielded a gem as the senior allowed just one unearned run on three hits in 6 2/3 innings of Moniteau's 6-1 Class AA victory at Michelle Krill Memorial Field at Historic Pullman Park.
The Warriors will face the winner of Friday's semifinal between top-seeded Coudersport and Johnsonburg in the championship game Tuesday in DuBois.
Karns City (11-7) was unable to rattle Fitzingo, but an injured thumb did catch his attention.
After throwing a pitch in the top of the second, Fitzingo stepped off the mound and did not return for several minutes.
“I threw a curveball and after I let go of the ball, my finger slipped off and the nail cut the skin on my thumb. It started bleeding and they had to re-bandage it several times the rest of the game.
“I could feel it with every pitch I threw. It was uncomfortable, but I just had to deal with it.”
Fitzingo dealt with Karns City's lineup just fine. Two of the Gremlins' hits came in that second inning. Ty Belles and Josh Wimer both singled following a walk to Jake Weckerly. Wimer's base hit was bobbled in the outfield, allowing Weckerly to score and cut Moniteau's lead to 2-1.
The Gremlins' next hit — Cam Blair's one-out double — came off Fitzingo's last pitch of the game in the seventh frame. The latter left the game due to pitch count and Gage Neal tallied two strikeouts to cap the victory.
Fitzingo finished with 11 strikeouts while walking four.
“Hunter's a great pitcher, a great competitor,” said Karns City coach Josh Smith. “We knew he was going to pound the zone and our guys had to be ready to hit good pitches.”“I knew he was going to be good today,” Warriors' catcher Jared Lominski said of Fitzingo, “but he was even better than I expected. He stayed strong.”Moniteau's offense staked Fitzingo to an early lead. Against KC starter Steve O'Donnell, Jared Lominski singled in the first run in the bottom of the first inning. Mason Mershimer later drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0.Tyler McFadden's sacrifice fly scored Lominski in the third. That was more than enough support for Fitzingo. Despite the nagging thumb issue, he found his groove.“It came down to feeling comfortable with the pitches I was throwing, mostly my fastball and curveball,” he said. “I knew what was working.”Moniteau (16-5) chased O'Donnell from the game during its three-run sixth inning. Nathan Tack hit a sacrifice fly for one tally, Fitzingo and Chance Nagy had back-to-back doubles for another and Neal singled home the final run with KC reliever Colton Hutchison on the mound.O'Donnell, a senior, threw 49 pitches in 2 1/3 innings of work in Tuesday's lopsided win over Redbank Valley.“Steve ran out of gas, but he kept going,” said Smith. “You wear that Karns City uniform, you give everything you have. That's what we preach.“We had fun this year, but these seniors, I saw them come through the program and it'll be sad to see them go.”Four players had a pair of hits for Moniteau — Fitzingo, Nagy, Neal and Lominski.The Warriors won the district title in Class 3A last year. They will now take their shot at the Class 2A crown.“We just need to go out and do the job,” Lominski said. “I think we're as good, if not better than last year.”
Karns City 010 000 0 — 1 3 2Moniteau 201 003 x — 6 9 1W: Hunter Fitzingo 6.1 IP (11K, 4BB). L: Steve O'Donnell 5.2 IP (3K, 3BB).Karns City (11-7): Ty Belles 1B, Josh Wimer 1B, Cam Blair 2BMoniteau (16-5): Hunter Fitzingo 1B 2B, Chance Nagy 1B 2B R RBI, Gage Neal 2-1B R RBI, Jared Lominski 1B 3B R RBI, Lee DeMatteis 1BTuesday: Moniteau vs. Coudersport/Johnsonburg winner; District 9 Class AA championship game at Showers Field in DuBois, time TBD
