By Peyton Celesti | Staff Writer

BRIGHTON HEIGHTS — After a wild 15-14 victory over 14th Ward in their previous matchup, Northside Colt played small ball on a chilly evening on June 12 at Jack Stack Field. Starting pitcher Randy Aguglia threw five-plus innings of one-hit ball to lead Northside (6-0) past Etna (3-4) by a final score of 6-2. Northside only had five hits, but four walks allowed by Etna pitchers and four errors by the Etna defense were enough to scratch off six runs across six innings.

Northside outdid Etna’s four errors with five of their own, but theirs weren’t as costly as Etna’s, thanks to the great work of Aguglia. Etna hitters weren’t getting any hard contact off of him as he worked around three Northside errors in the first three innings. Aguglia only struck out two Etna batters through his five-plus innings of work, but many soft ground balls and pop-ups made for easy outs.

Northside’s offense didn’t have many hard-hit balls throughout the night either, but being aggressive on the bases when the opportunities presented themselves put runners in scoring position during many innings. Northside base runners stole seven bags uncontested on Etna pitchers, as they got huge jumps that didn’t give the Etna catcher a chance. “It’s something we take pride in,” said Manager Kevin Hemmingway of how his team loves to cause mayhem on the basepaths.

Check out the July issue of The Northside Chronicle for the full story.