Canon-McMillan rides ‘hit train’ to win over Hempfield

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 | 8:58 PM

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Between innings Wednesday, ace pitcher M.J. Maruschak soft-tossed with a teammate behind his team’s dugout to stay loose. It is a tradition he has adopted, along with throwing and catching a medicine ball.

Down time is not an option for the right-hander.

The entire Canon-McMillan baseball team looked loose in the second game of its three-game series against Hempfield.

Maruschak, an Ohio commit, struck out 10, did not issue a walk and scattered five hits in a complete-game effort as the fourth-ranked Big Macs thumped host Hempfield, 12-1, in Section 2-6A.

Run support helped Maruschak get into a groove and improve to 5-0 while his first-place team moved to 12-4 overall and 8-3 in section.

“It’s always more comfortable pitching with a lead,” said Maruschak, who threw 104 pitches. “Once a couple of us gets a hit, the hit train comes.”

And Hempfield (5-10, 3-5) could not get off the tracks.

Despite a strong start that included a 1-0 lead off of Maruschak in the first inning and an inning-ending double play in the third, the Spartans could not keep up with the Big Macs and lost for the sixth time in seven games.

“We played really well in the beginning,” Hempfield coach Tim Buzzard said. “But it played out like (Game 1 on Tuesday) when we were up 2-1 in the fourth. Same feel. A couple things didn’t go well, and it went from there. We had some good at-bats early, but it got away from us.”

Hempfield was outhit 10-5 and committed five errors. Canon-McMillan, which took the opener 7-1, will go for a sweep Thursday when it hosts the Spartans. The final game of the series was moved up a day.

Maruschak helped his cause with two hits and two RBIs. Troy Stimpson and Kolton Smittle each added two hits with Stimpson delivering a double, triple and three RBIs.

Smittle had two RBIs.

“Last time out against Norwin, we let M.J. down a little bit,” Canon-McMillan coach Brendon Steele said. “We wanted to get him more support today. He always had a good feel for the game and keeps us in it.”

Stimpson ripped a two-run triple to deep left to put the Big Macs ahead 3-1 in the fourth.

Hempfield used three pitchers in starter Josh Cayer and relievers Quinn Wilkins and Lukas Murray.

Cayer left in the fifth after 64 pitches. Canon-McMillan loaded the bases against Wilkins via an error, a walk and a hit batsman. But the Spartans worked out of it with no damage.

The Big Macs, though, took a 5-1 lead in the sixth on RBI singles from Collin Yeager and Maruschak, the leadoff man.

“We have a solid lineup with strategically placed players,” Steele said. “The (order) isn’t top heavy or bottom heavy.”

After Hempfield left runners at second and third in the sixth, the Big Macs added a large exclamation point.

A brutal seventh inning for Hempfield saw the Big Macs send 13 hitters to the plate and score seven times.

Even pinch-hitter Blake Simmons ripped a two-run single. Stimpson had a run-scoring double, and Smittle knocked in a run with a single.

Runs also scored via a wild pitch and a hit batter with the bases loaded.

“We knew Hempfield would be a tough, physical team,” said Maruschak, who favored his slider in the win. “But our bats came out, and we attacked. We’re playing our best baseball right now.”

Maruschak rendered the bottom of the Spartans’ order powerless. Hitters No. 6 through 9 — and four pinch-hitters — were 0 for 11 with seven strikeouts.

“He has a good fastball,” Buzzard said of the right-hander. “His velo changed as the game went on.”

Hempfield played its fourth straight game without Dylan Firmstone, a Penn State commit who is nursing a shoulder injury.

Maxwell Bowin also did not play for the Spartans because of injury.

Chase Sikorski gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly in the first, scoring Colin Polechko, who singled.

Sikorski, who later doubled, is working his way back into the pitching rotation after elbow surgery.

Firmstone and Sikorski are two of the team’s top pitchers.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Canon-McMillan, Hempfield