FOR PETE’S SAKE: Hun School baseball player Pete Schintzler follows through on a swing earlier this spring. Last Wednesday, senior second baseman Schintzler drove in the winning run in a seventh-inning rally as Hun edged the Hill School (Pa.) 4-3. Last Monday, Schintzler went 2-for-4 with three runs to help eighth-seeded Hun edge ninth-seeded WW/P-S 7-6 in the opening round of the Mercer County Tournament. The Raiders, who improved to 10-5 with the victory, will face top-seeded Steinert in an MCT quarterfinal contest on May 6. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

With the Hun School baseball team locked in a 3-3 tie against the Hill School (Pa.) with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning last Wednesday, Pete Schintzler had the game in his hands as he came to the plate.

The Hun senior second baseman, though, felt right at home in the pressure situation.

“We have played close games all season, we really haven’t blown teams out,” said Schintzler. “Everything has been close, that is what we are used to. He had been throwing a fastball and then a curveball every at bat. I had a fastball and a curve ball so I just figured, especially with the sun being tough, I might as well put something out there and hope for the best and that is what ended up happening.”

Schintzler lofted a ball to left field which dropped in as the Hill outfielder struggled with the sun, knocking in Evan Barratt to give Hun a 4-3 win.

“The way he came off the ball and dropped to his knee, you could tell that either he was going to get lucky and catch it or I was going to get lucky and it was going to drop,” said Schintzler, recalling the game-winning hit. “That wasn’t my best swing.”

In Schintzler’s view, Hun’s resilience has shown through this spring as it has come back from some disappointing setbacks.

“Coming off the tough loss to Steinert (14-12 on April 11) and working through that was big,” said Schintzler.

“It showed that we could come back from a big loss and then coming off the Nottingham loss (7-4 on April 18), we have been playing well too. We are a good bounce-back team.”

The team’s good character has helped Hun battle through the ups and downs it has experienced.

“We are not the most talented team individually but we work and there is chemistry,” said Schintzler.

“Even the guys that aren’t getting in, they are working on the bench every day, every game. They are screaming their butts off, that gets everybody going.”

As a fixture on the top of the Hun batting order, Schintzler looks to get the Raiders going offensively.

“I have been in the two hole every game,” said Schintzler,  who went 2-for-4 with three runs last Monday to help eighth-seeded Hun edge ninth-seeded WW/P-S 7-6 in the opening round of the Mercer County Tournament.

“Most of my hits this season have been line drives to center or left. So if someone gets on, it is easy to move them over like that.”

Hun head coach Bill McQuade likes the upbeat mentality he has been seeing from his players all season.

“We have had a couple of letdowns this year but normally they are enthusiastic,” said McQuade.

“They yell and scream, like a little league team. They have been doing that from day one on our Florida trip so that is the personality of the team.”

The Raiders’ seventh-inning rally against Hill had the players screaming for joy. Nick Perez led off the frame with a walk and later scored on a single by sophomore Barratt, who advanced to second on an error. That set the stage for Schintzler’s heroics.

“Schintz is having a great season so far; he is getting his bat on the ball,” said McQuade. “He battles that way. Barratt is just an athlete, he is a winner. You saw it in hockey, he brings that same mentality here.”

On the mound, senior and Villanova-bound Jason Applegate is bringing a battling spirit. He went the distance in the win over Hill, giving up four hits and striking out nine.

“Other than probably just three, four, or five sloppy pitches, it was his best game of the year in terms of location and mixing pitches,” said McQuade of Applegate, who starred with his bat in Hun’s win over WW/P-S in the MCT opener, going 4-for-4 with three RBIs  “He has really turned it on as a leader and he is the ace of the staff by far. That is probably his sixth win already.”

Hun’s win over Hill kept the Raiders alive in the race for the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) crown.

“We could actually win the title, which would be an unbelievable season,” said McQuade, whose team is now 10-5 and will continue its quest for another title as it faces top-seeded Steinert in an MCT quarterfinal contest on May 6. “If we could play like we did in the last week then we are going to be OK. Some of the other guys have to go and step up for us.”

Schintzler, for his part, is primed to keep going as long as possible this spring.

“I am playing legion ball this summer; this is my last year with these guys and my last year playing competitive ball,” said Schintzler. “I want to get everything out of it that I can.”