April 14, 2013 - The freshman class of 2013 has undoubtedly been one of the most talented and impactful to fall upon the Charger baseball program in many years. But Sunday afternoon, it was the seniors who showed the way to one of the team's most complete wins of the season.
Senior Mike Vanchieri had a run-scoring double, senior Scott Lantis had two hits, including a solo home run, and senior Kris Morris pitched 7 2/3 strong innings to lead Hillsdale to a 6-1 win over Wayne State in the third of their three-game weekend series at Simpson Field.
With the win, Hillsdale is now 13-18 overall and 6-12 in the GLIAC, while the Warriors fell to 12-5 in conference play.
Coming off a frustrating 1-0 loss to Northwood Wednesday, Morris turned in another terrific start on the mound, picking up his second win of the season. He scattered seven hits and struck out three batters in an efficient performance. He was also the beneficiary of three sharp double plays turned by the defense. Morris was in on one himself, catching a line drive right back to him before throwing the ball to second for an innin-ending double play.
Vanchieri has at least one hit in 10 of his last 12 games, and has driven in a run in six of his last eight games. That hot streak continued Sunday, when he slammed a double to center field, scoring freshman Luke Ortel to give Hillsdale a 4-1 lead. The run was critical, because it answered a Wayne State run, which cut the Chargers' early lead to 3-1.
Lantis, a mainstay in the Hillsdale lineup for all four of his years with the Chargers, enjoyed his best day at the plate of the season. In his first at bat, he hit a good-looking single to right, then followed that up with his first home run of the season to give Morris plenty of breathing room on the mound. It was Lantis' third multi-hit game of the season, and his first since March 17, coming at the perfect time for the Chargers.
Ortel went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while freshman Geordy Smith hit his fourth triple of the season, tyiing him for sixth place on Hillsdale's all-time single-season triples list. Sophomore Vinny Delicata also had a two-hit game for Hillsdale, and freshman pitcher Lucas Hamelink looked impressive in 1 1/3 innings in relief.