Kingston rolls to 11th consecutive victory

Fritz Genther hit a two-run home run to help lead Kingston High to its 11th consecutive victory.

Fritz Genther hit a two-run homer and Christian Ott and Steven Freer combined to handcuff Washingtonville Thursday, leading Kingston High to its 11th consecutive victory, 3-2 in a Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association crossover baseball game.

Genther hit his homer and Garrett Warnecke beat out a two-out RBI infield single to score Jon Kivlan in the third for all of the Tigers runs.

Ott went the first four innings, striking out six, walking one and allowing three hits for the win. A misplayed two-out grounder opened the door for the Wizards in the fourth. After a walk, Myles Passley followed with a two-run single.

Freer threw three innings of one-hit relief for a hard-earned save. The Wizards loaded the bases with two out in the seventh on a hit and consecutive hit batsmen. Freer, one pitch from forcing in the tying run, struck out the next hitter on a 3-2 pitch.

Warnecke had a pair of hits for Kingston, with Jake McNutt add-

ing a triple and a double in the win.

“We got the runs we needed today, but made it

difficult a couple of innings by hurting ourselves with mental mistakes,” Kingston coach Mike Groppuso said. “We have been better lately with those things but, today, it reminded us that we need to stay focused and continue to do the little things.

The Tigers, now 14-5 overall, is looking good overall.

“Our pitching has been very consistent and is our strength,” Groppuso noted. “Joe (Ferrer), Christian and Steven have given us opportunity after opportunity to win a ball game and that is all you can ask. We have been in a lot of close games, including one-run games.

“We are certainly tested and prepared. We just need to stay consistent behind them and perform situationally.”