The youngest and most inexperienced parts of the North Hills Palomino lineup this summer have turned into the brightest.

Junior Zach Gall and sophomore Jesse Bauer not only earned starting roles this year on a veteran team but they have excelled offensively and are part of the reason why North Hills was able to open the season winning 14 consecutive games in the Quad County Palomino North.

Batting in the five-spot, Gall is hitting .415 with 19 RBIs and eight stolen bases while Bauer leads the team hitting .632 with a team-high 21 RBIs and seven doubles.

North Hills has seen the power spread among its hitters. After 14 games North Hills had seven home runs hit by seven different players and six players were in double digits in runs batted in.

Weidner has been surprised by how many hitters have been able to knock in runs this season. Coming into the season the veteran coach expected Ryan Fairbrother to be one of his only big bats in the lineup. Fairbrother has knocked in 16 RBIs to go with a home run and a team-best .878 slugging percentage.

Brian Wisniewski who plays for John Carroll University in Cleveland, is the only player on the squad who played collegiate baseball last season. He has been a catalyst for the team from the leadoff spot. He leads the team with 13 stolen bases and has been getting on base at a .640 clip from the two-spot in the lineup. Bauer, who bats behind Wisniewski, leads the team with a .696 on-base percentage.

The pitching has stepped up big time, too, even with the loss of Duquesne recruit Andrew Heck and Evan Euler. The staff has maintained an ERA of 2.14 through 14 games led by Andrew Wyzkoski and Jake Ulizzi. Wyzkoski has logged the most innings with 19¹/₃ and a team high 31 strikeouts with an ERA of 2.17. Ulizzi, a 16-year old, is 3-0 with a 2.68 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 15²/₃ innings.

"It's not easy to replace two of your top pitchers but I had several young players take prominent roles on the hill," Weidner said. "Andrew and Jake will be asked to handle the main load. We are going to be relying on them."

North Hills has used six different starting pitchers this year. Greg Meyer, Brian Wisniewski and Bauer have also stepped up on the mound. Through 10¹/₃ innings Bauer has yet to allow an earned run while Wisniewski has walked only three and struck out 15. After 17 innings pitched Meyer has struck out 21 while holding a 2.47 ERA.

Even with the 14-0 start, Weidner acknowledges the quality of teams in the Quad County North this year. The North Allegheny Gold team and Pine-Richland only had one loss each as of Saturday and Springdale had still yet to lose.

"I am certainly not taking anything away from what we have accomplished because we have had a good run, but our goal is always to make the Palomino regional," Weidner said.

"A couple teams that we have not even played yet will have a whole lot to say about that. We have big challenges ahead and we'll let it play out and see where it takes us at the end of July."

In the win against the North Allegheny Gold team Ulizzi pitched a solid game and the North Hills bats came through with clutch hits. All seven North Hills runs in the game came with two outs. The young players stepped up in a big way against NA with Gall delivering a double and a home run, knocking in four runs and Bauer going 2 for 3 with two RBIs.

"We are definitely going to have to keep pitching as well as we have," Weidner said. "Our pitching has been exemplary and against these big teams you can't make mistakes. We just have to continue to work ahead in the count."

Anthony Valeriano is the starting right fielder and Dan Scherling and T.J. Zarewicz have shared the workload behind the plate at catcher. Josh Milligan, a third-year player for Weidner, is the starting first basemen. Mike Ondek has been a contributor in the infield.

Brad Scullion is one of three 19 year olds on the team. He played baseball previously for CCAC North and is batting leadoff and playing in center field. David Smyers and Tom Crilley have missed time with injuries with Baker and Meyer stepping up in their places.

Nick Radacosky, a 16 year old, has seen a lot of time starting in the outfield and is hitting .455 with only one strikeout.