Power-packed punch: Tollerton’s opposite-field home run ignites Raiders’ response to early deficit in victory over Titans

QUINCY — No one associated with the Quincy Notre Dame baseball program realized the left-handed hitting Tucker Tollerton had enough pop in his bat to drive a ball over Ferd Niemann Jr. Memorial Ballfield’s high fence in left field.

Not even Tollerton himself.

“I didn’t think I had that much power the opposite way,” he said. “I really didn’t.”

Even when the ball came off his bat in the bottom of the first inning Saturday against Chatham Glenwood, he didn’t believe it had a chance of getting out.

“I thought it was going to be off the fence or something like that,” Tollerton said.

Instead, it bounced on Ninth Street.

Tollerton gave the QND offense a jolt with a two-run home run, erasing a two-run deficit with one swing and igniting a five-run first inning that carried the Raiders to a 9-5 victory. QND scored eight runs in the first two innings combined and received a stellar start from right-hander Jake Schisler in handing Glenwood its first loss of the season.

“The dugout just erupted,” Tollerton said of the reaction to his home run. “I was happy when it went over. Everyone else was going nuts. It gets everyone involved and gets everyone locked in.”

It was the kind of immediate retaliation the Raiders needed.

Schisler, making his first home start of the season, allowed pro prospect Parker Detmers to rocket a two-run home run to left field in the top of the first before a strikeout and a groundout ended the inning. He allowed one base runner in each of the next four innings, but never had to wriggle out of a serious jam.

“The Detmers home run definitely put us down a little bit, but we knew we could do the same thing and punch them back,” QND third baseman Brady Kindhart said. “We know what our bats can do in our lineup. We have a lethal lineup one through nine. We can hit.”

That’s the kind of comfort a pitcher embraces.

“That’s what I love about pitching for this team,” Schisler said. “You make a mistake there and give up two runs, but these guys come back and do something big. That’s huge.”

Schisler was the one who got it started. He singled through the left side of the infield and scored when Tollerton jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Titans right-hander Declan Jessee and drove it over the left-field fence.

“I’ve seen him go off the wall a few times in batting practice, but I haven’t seen him do that,” Schisler said. “When he hit that, I was like, ‘That’s got a pretty good chance.’”

It changed the energy entirely.

“We needed some kick to get us going,” Kindhart said. “We started stringing some more hits together one after another. We were just passing the baton. That’s what our lineup is about.”

Kindhart singled with one out and scored on Michael Stupavsky’s double. After a strikeout, Nolan Robb was hit by a pitch before Mason Winking singled to center field, plating Stupavsky. Robb also scored on an error in center, giving QND a 5-2 advantage.

“To have our guys gets punched in the mouth and come back in and score five, that’s a huge response,” QND coach Rich Polak said after his team improved to 9-1. “The guys were excited to come out and play a team like this, and they got off to a great start offensively.”

Schisler and Tollerton collected back-to-back singles leading off the second inning and both scored on Dalton Miller’s double. Kindhart followed with an RBI double, and he scored on Jack Linenfelser’s sacrifice fly.

Glenwood (5-1) couldn’t answer against Schisler, who struck out seven, walked one and allowed three runs and five hits over six innings. Tollerton pitched the seventh inning, finishing the game with a strikeout and a popout.

Schisler and Kindhart each went 3 for 4 with two runs scored as the Raiders collected 12 hits overall, enabling them to erase last year’s 9-3 loss to the Titans on the road from their memory.

“We had a little revenge on our minds, and that played into how we performed,” Schisler said.

One big swing from an unexpected power source got it all started.

“I was busting Tucker’s chops this week because he’s always hitting balls out during BP onto Jackson Street (beyond the right-field fence),” Polak said. “I said, ‘Man, you don’t have juice the other way.’ Then he hits that one and that ball just carried like crazy. It was awesome.”