Riekofsky’s strong bat, stronger arm propels Hubbers on career night
By HUNTER O. LYLE
SMETHPORT, PA – Stepping up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth, all that separated the Hubbers from a trip to the playoffs was one timely hit. With one out and the bases loaded, it was Colin Riekofsky’s moment.
As a senior on Senior Night, it seemed fitting that he would be the one to deliver the Smethport baseball team not only a win, but the first trip to the District 9 Class A postseason of his career. Rattling off his second hit of the day, a hard shot through the infield, he did just that, sealing a 5-4 extra-innings win over Otto-Eldred and ending a four-year playoff drought.
“Early in the season, (making the playoffs) was our ultimate goal and we’ve strung together a lot of close games, fought hard and that’s finally where we’re at,” said Smethport head coach Colby Austin. “We’ve achieved some team goals and hopefully it doesn’t stop there.”
Flashback almost two hours prior and the Hubbers were celebrating for a different reason. Ahead of the first pitch, they took time to recognize the efforts of the senior leaders: Riekofsky, Clayton Kiser, Jonah Ganoe and Cole Burdick.
“They all contribute in different ways. Colin has been our starting pitcher and he’s been our go-to guy when we need a win. Cole has been a solid first basemen for us all year and a great at-bat guy too,” said Austin. “Clayton has been the heart of our bench, he keeps guys up.”
Returning to the dugout, they then readied for their final North Tier League meeting of the season. After narrowly beating the Terrors in their first face off – a 10-9 win on Friday, April 17 – the Hubbers wasted no time setting the tone, starting with efforts on the mound from Riekofsky.
Starting just eight strikeouts away from his triple digit career milestone, Riekofsky continuously pounded the zone, keeping the Terrors at bay with four Ks through the first two frames. And while the Hubbers themselves were initially blanked on their first visit to the plate, their return in the bottom of the second broke things open.
With one out and one runner on base, Smethport quickly filled the diamond with a bunt single from Ganoe and a walk from Mason Swanson. One batter later, Wyatt Hungiville took his inaugural slice of the night, cracking a ball through the infield to drive in a pair. Getting back to the top of the order, the Hubbers reloaded the base with a Konnor Davis walk before Zach Hungiville drove in another with a similar RBI-single.
The Terrors, however, were not to be outdone. Despite suffering their first two outs while only getting one man on the diamond, O-E would not go down without a fight.
Patience and poise ultimately paid off, as their next two men at the plate battled through back-to-back full-counts and came away with walks and real estate on the baseline. Ryan Schenfield then registered his first hit of the night, cranking a double up the middle to score Jack Sherry and Michael Sheeler. Seeing a man still on second and third, Macaibe Splain found a window of opportunity, streaking across home plate on a Hubber passed ball to knot the game at three before Schenfield came across on a Wyatt Blendinger RBI-single immediately after.
“I think it came down to getting through the order once and seeing (Riekofsky) once. He has a good arm, one of the best we have in the league and I think we adjusted,” said Otto-Eldred head coach Lance Baker. “I’ve always preached ‘swing at strikes, attack fastballs’ and I think we drew a few walks and put the ball in play and when you do that, good things happen.”
From there, the dust began to settle. With each respective pitcher showcasing their arms – Riekofsky for Smethport and Schenfield for O-E – neither team managed to break through. Swapping strikeouts in rapid succession, Riekofsky eventually tallied his 100th K as he dispatched the Terrors in three in the top of the fourth.
“A lot of his success comes from his mound presence. He’s focused when he’s up there, he does a great job and when he gets ahead he stays ahead usually,” said Austin. “One thing we’ve really been trying to get him to focus on is not wasting pitches and he’s come a long easy with that this year.”
Then, after being unable to get a man past second for the previous two innings, Smethport finally found some momentum.
Seeing Riekofsky open the bottom of the fifth with a double to right field, the Hubbers quickly tied the game with a shot from Burdick one batter later. Still without an out, Smethport quickly put men on the remaining two bases with a Camryn Young walk and an Aiden Tanner single. However, again the Terrors hung tough, finding three consecutive strikeouts – two from Schenfield and one from relief pitcher Grady Van Camp – to close out the frame.
“Hats off to (Van Camp,) he had a nice curveball that we couldn’t really figure out. He really had us sitting on that and couldn’t see it quick enough to get on it,” said Austin. “That was a big key to allowing (O-E) to stay in the game.”
Once again, the stalemate ensued, with only one hit registered through the final two innings of regulation. In the do-or-die eighth, O-E saw Van Camp reach first on a line drive single, but were ultimately put out empty handed with a pair of Ks from Zach Hungiville.
Then, playing on their home field for the last time, it was the Hubbers time to plant their flag. After a quick lead-off out, the next two batters reached first and second on consecutive walks, with the fourth man up being intentionally walked by the Terrors. With the bases loaded, up came Riekofsky.
First pitch strike.
Second pitch ball.
Third pitch, a game-winning, postseason-sealing line drive single through the infield.
Riekofsky ended 2-for-5 at the plate, tallying one run and one RBI alongside his 13 strikeouts through five frames on the mound. His senior co-star, Burdick, finished 2-for-4 with one RBI while Wyatt Hungiville went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and one run.
For O-E, Van Camp recorded two hits in four trips to the batters’ box, followed by Schenfield with two RBIs during his 1-for-4 afternoon. The pair also combined for ten strikeouts while tending the mound.
While the Hubbers look forward to the playoffs, following their regular season finale against Bradford on Wednesday, the Terrors are face-to-face with the end of the road. Playing under a 0.500 rule and sitting at 3-15, the loss on the road proved to be final.
“I think this was kind of a microcosm of our season. We were in a lot of games. I think I counted that we lost six or seven three-run ball games. We’re young, we’re finding ways to lose games but we’re getting there and we’re putting ourselves in position to win a lot of these games,” said Baker. “I’ll miss our two seniors but we have a lot of guys coming back. We’re going to grow from these losses and turn them into wins next year.”
AT SMETHPORT
Otto-Eldrd 004 000 0 0 R:4 H:4 E:2
Smethport 030 010 0 1 R:5 H:8 E:0
Otto-Eldred: Schenfield (6 SO, 3 BB), VanCamp (5) (4 SO, 4 BB) and Splain
Smethport: Riekofsky (13 SO, 5 BB), Z. Hungiville (6) (3 SO, 5 BB) and Young
