Atlee center fielder Chop Pulisic worked hard in the off-season to improve his swing, and Friday night the hard work paid off.

  Pulisic went 3-for-4 and scored a run. His offense, combined with solid pitching by Atlee starter Luke Bolka and reliever Ryan Bettinger – who combined for eight strikeouts while holding Hanover to just two hits – ensured that the Raiders ran down the Hawks and remained undefeated in Capital District play with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory at Hanover Friday night.

  “I had a pretty solid day today,” Pulisic said. “I feel I really helped our team to a win. I worked hard in the off-season and it’s really helped me to change my swing. I’ve been hitting much better”

  The Raiders (4-0 Capital, 6-4), however, started the game rather meekly. After Pulisic, the leadoff batter, reached first on a single, a strikeout and two groundouts left him stranded.

  In the bottom of the first inning, Hanover (1-2, 7-2) managed to take a 1-0 lead without any hits. Hanover shortstop Andrew Knizner drew a one-out walk, first baseman Jared Lipscombe reached on an error, and catcher Eric mayers walked to load the bases. One out later, designated hitter Bryan Lowery walked to bring Knizner home.

  Twice more, the Hawks would have men on third base, but both times they failed to score.

  “We were getting on base, but they were making timely pitches and we didn’t have very good situational at-bats,” said Hanover coach Charlie Dragum. “A couple of times we had men on third with less than two outs and we just couldn’t score them, which is a bad sign. In high school baseball, you should be able to score those runs.”

  Atlee did a much better job in scoring situations. Pulisic singled with one out in the third inning, advanced to second on second baseman Paul Keye’s groundout to the shortstop, and scored on first baseman Austin Young’s single to center field.

  The Raiders earned their go-ahead run in the fourth inning. With one out, right fielder Brent West singled, Farrar doubled, and Conner Overton drove West in on a groundout to second base.

  In the seventh inning, Atlee third baseman Conner Hall took two for the team – twice he was hit by pitches from Hanover reliever Jacob Smith, but the first time the umpire ruled he leaned into the pitch. The second time, Dragum tried to argue he leaned into the pitch again, but the umpire allowed him to take first. Unfortunately, Pulisic grounded out – the first time he failed to reach first base the entire game – before Hall had a chance to score.

  What was important, however, was Hall’s defensive contribution in the bottom of the inning as the Hawks tried to rally. Bettinger gave up a leadoff double to Hanover centerfielder Bryan Johansen. Johansen advanced to third on a groundout to Bettinger by left fielder Zach Broaddus. Knizner then hit a grounder to Hall. Johansen had not advanced very far down the third baseline, and Hall quickly threw to catcher Mitch Keeler, stopping Johansen’s progress home.

  “I was just playing baseball. I’ve done it a hundred times before. It’s just another part of the game that has to be done,” Hall said. “I just saw that [Johansen] was far enough off the bag that I could make a play on him. I knew we could get him in a rundown and I knew we could make the play because we practiced it. There wasn’t a whole lot of thinking going on. It was just reacting.”

  Johansen cut back to third, but Keeler tossed the ball back to Hall. When Johansen broke for home again, Hall threw to Bettinger, who was now in position to keep Johansen from scoring. Johansen stumbled, and Bettinger ran him down before he could reach safety.

  “I just saw the runner going home, and the third baseman threw it to the catcher. I knew we got him right there, because we’re good at rundowns,” Bettinger said. “I saw him slip up in the corner of my eye when I was catching the ball. I just went after him, went all out and tried to tag him.”
 
 
Atlee 001 100 0—2 7 1
Hanover 100 000 0—1 2 0
Bolka, Bettinger (4) and Keeler; Cooper, Chalkley (4), Smith (5) and Mayers. W: Bolka. L: Chalkley. S: Bettinger.

Records:
Atlee 4-0 Capital, 6-4; Hanover 1-2, 7-2