Kinnick Pusteoska provides punch for Solon baseball in sweep of Mount Vernon

SOLON — Kinnick Pusteoska stepped in the batter’s box with bat in hand and chip on his shoulder.

The Solon senior stood on deck as Mount Vernon opted to take its chances with him after intentionally walking Brett White to load the bases with the go-ahead run on base. A move that didn’t set well with Pusteoska.

“Definitely, made it a little personal for me,” said Pusteoska, who delivered a two-run double to give the Spartans a lead they didn’t surrender in a 10-7 victory to cap a Wamac Conference doubleheader sweep of the Mustangs Thursday night at the Solon Recreation and Nature Area. “I’m glad I connected with a pitch like that. It was exciting to get that hit and I was pumped after it. It was a lot of fun.”

The shot was part of a monster night for Pusteoska, who batted 4-for-4 with four RBIs in a 13-4 victory in the opener. Overall, he finished with five hits, including four doubles, two walks, three runs and six RBIs.

“The last week to week and a half I’ve been hitting it right at them (the defense) or been a little under the ball,” Pusteoska said. “I’ve been working with Coach (Jim) White every morning.

“I caught a couple barrels tonight. The swing felt good.”

Pusteoska hits in the No. 3 spot of Solon’s batting order, following leadoff batter Blake Timmons and Brett White, who is scorching opposing pitchers with a .500 batting average and .627 on-base percentage.

It is a luxury to have Pusteoska hitting behind you, even if he likes to remind you.

“It’s awesome,” White said. “I see so many pitches because of him. And that’s what he says that ‘you better thank me for being behind you.’ I never get walked because of him. They have to pitch to me with a big guy like that.”

The tandem paired up in the opening inning of Game 1. White ripped a single and scored on Pusteoska’s double to left center for a 1-0 lead.

“More times than not, I’m up with Brett or Blake on base,” Pusteoska said. “The saying on our team is hitting is contagious. It helps a lot.”

He chased home Timmons and White in the five-run third, doubled and scored in the three-run fifth and added an RBI single in the sixth to close the Spartans scoring.

Pusteoska finished 1-for-3 in the second game, walking once. He improved his season average to .356, reaching base at a .537 clip. Pusteoska has 31 hits, 36 RBIs and 56 total bases.

He spent time on technique in the offseason, fixing a tendency of pulling sideways from the pitch. The adjustments seem to be successful.

“We’ve worked hard on being short and quick to it every morning,” Pusteoska said. “Just try to hit it hard somewhere and that’s helped a lot for all of us.”

White was as dominant as Pusteoska at the plate in the opener. He went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs. White started with a base hit, had an RBI triple the next inning and added a two-run home run.

It came on the heels of a four-hit night in a 13-2 victory at Class 3A top-ranked Davenport Assumption. White had two home runs, a triple and double.

“We’ve been building off last week and this week,” White said. “We feed off each other, especially Kinnick. We’ve been feeding off each other all year.”

White displayed his versatility with the bat. He jumped on the first pitch he saw in the first, roping a liner right back up the middle for a single. White remained patient, pushing the count full before hitting a triple. He powered up for a shot well over the right-center field fence.

“I feel like one of my best attributes is my two-strike approach,” White said. “I shorten up a lot. My dad has helped me with that. I have two different ways to load, so I just switch up in the middle of the at-bat. I think that really helps me the whole time.”

Solon (18-13, 13-7)has been hot lately, winning nine of it last 10 games. The Spartans have battled through a slow start and are starting to peak as the postseason approaches.

“I think all of our pieces are coming together,” Pusteoska said. “About half of our lineup is getting hot, hitting a lot more baseballs this year. We knew that coming into the year it would take time for all the pieces to come together because there are so many fresh faces.

“It’s been fun getting hot. I hope we can continue it.”

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