Spartans move on
Kerr-Vance eases into NCISAA 1A quarterfinals with 10-2 win over Northwood Temple
May. 05, 2015 @ 08:51 PM
JOHN HOLT
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MARK DOLEJS / Dispatch staff
Kerr-Vance Academy's Dustin Smith slides safely into second as Northwood Temple Academy's Giovanni Garcia misses the catch in their state tournament game Tuesday night.
MARK DOLEJS / Dispatch staff
Kerr-Vance Academy's Austin Breedlove is congratulated by Colby Wilkerson (14) after he scored off of teammate Banks Conde's double in the third inning of their game Tuesday night against Northwood Temple Academy.
More Fewer photos
HENDERSON —
In a win or go home scenario on Tuesday, the Kerr-Vance Academy Spartans baseball team displayed their full arsenal of talent in a 10-2 win over Northwood Temple in the opening round of the 2015 North Carolina Independent Athletic Association 1A baseball playoffs.
“We really wanted to go to the next round,” Kerr-Vance Academy junior Damon Stevenson said. “It meant a lot to us to win this game and go ahead to the next round.”
Kerr-Vance opened their scoring on Tuesday in the bottom half of the first inning when Stevenson knocked in the first of his three RBIs on the afternoon.
Northwood Temple would tie the score in the top of the third when sophomore Chance Chavis hit an RBI grounder, which scored Eagles junior Giovanni Garcia from third base.
That would be the final tie of the contest as Kerr-Vance responded in the bottom half of the inning with four runs in what wound up being a hitting clinic.
The scoring began with Stevenson brining Dustin Smith home from third on a pop out to deep center field. Then, senior Adam Medlin connected on an RBI single into left field, which scored Daniel Wilkerson. Being ahead now 3-1, Austin Breedlove would produce an RBI single to score Medlin, and lastly Banks Conde knocked in an RBI double, which scored Breedlove and pushed the Spartans advantage to 5-1 at the conclusion of the inning.
The bottom of the fourth would be almost identical to the bottom of the third as Kerr-Vance put together five runs starting with a 2 RBI double from Stevenson.
“They were coming down the middle,” Stevenson said of his 2-for-4 3 RBI outing at the plate. “They were there, I swung. It ended up pretty good.”
Kerr-Vance head coach Todd Wilkerson said the key behind his team’s third and fourth inning offensive success was their level of composure.
“We talked to them in the dugout about being a little bit more patient at the plate,” Wilkerson said. “I thought in those innings they were more patient. They were more patient at the plate and had a good pitch to hit.
“We had a couple walks through there and then we had a couple hits. But that comes from being patient. We weren’t up there free-swinging at everything.”
D. Wilkerson opened on the mound for the Spartans and struck out five batters in the game’s first two innings. The junior standout would pick up the win and end the day with a game-high nine strikeouts after only allowing two hits and one run.
“Daniel pitched good today,” Todd Wilkerson said. “Maybe not quite as good as he normally is. I think he got tired there in the later inning.
“But he still pitched a good ball game and then Damon came in and did a good job to finish it off for us.”
Stevenson would pitch the final two innings for the Spartans giving up just one run on two hits with a pair of strikeouts.
Kerr-Vance now moves onto to the NCISAA 1A quarterfinals where they will meet Wayne Christian School on Saturday. Wayne Christian is seeded fourth in the tournament, whereas Kerr-Vance is seeded fifth.
“We don’t want to go down there and lay down,” Wilkerson said. “We’re going to go down there to win. I think we can.”
Kerr-Vance eases into NCISAA 1A quarterfinals with 10-2 win over Northwood Temple
May. 05, 2015 @ 08:51 PM
JOHN HOLT
Login Subscribe or link to print subscription
MARK DOLEJS / Dispatch staff
Kerr-Vance Academy's Dustin Smith slides safely into second as Northwood Temple Academy's Giovanni Garcia misses the catch in their state tournament game Tuesday night.
MARK DOLEJS / Dispatch staff
Kerr-Vance Academy's Austin Breedlove is congratulated by Colby Wilkerson (14) after he scored off of teammate Banks Conde's double in the third inning of their game Tuesday night against Northwood Temple Academy.
More Fewer photos
HENDERSON —
In a win or go home scenario on Tuesday, the Kerr-Vance Academy Spartans baseball team displayed their full arsenal of talent in a 10-2 win over Northwood Temple in the opening round of the 2015 North Carolina Independent Athletic Association 1A baseball playoffs.
“We really wanted to go to the next round,” Kerr-Vance Academy junior Damon Stevenson said. “It meant a lot to us to win this game and go ahead to the next round.”
Kerr-Vance opened their scoring on Tuesday in the bottom half of the first inning when Stevenson knocked in the first of his three RBIs on the afternoon.
Northwood Temple would tie the score in the top of the third when sophomore Chance Chavis hit an RBI grounder, which scored Eagles junior Giovanni Garcia from third base.
That would be the final tie of the contest as Kerr-Vance responded in the bottom half of the inning with four runs in what wound up being a hitting clinic.
The scoring began with Stevenson brining Dustin Smith home from third on a pop out to deep center field. Then, senior Adam Medlin connected on an RBI single into left field, which scored Daniel Wilkerson. Being ahead now 3-1, Austin Breedlove would produce an RBI single to score Medlin, and lastly Banks Conde knocked in an RBI double, which scored Breedlove and pushed the Spartans advantage to 5-1 at the conclusion of the inning.
The bottom of the fourth would be almost identical to the bottom of the third as Kerr-Vance put together five runs starting with a 2 RBI double from Stevenson.
“They were coming down the middle,” Stevenson said of his 2-for-4 3 RBI outing at the plate. “They were there, I swung. It ended up pretty good.”
Kerr-Vance head coach Todd Wilkerson said the key behind his team’s third and fourth inning offensive success was their level of composure.
“We talked to them in the dugout about being a little bit more patient at the plate,” Wilkerson said. “I thought in those innings they were more patient. They were more patient at the plate and had a good pitch to hit.
“We had a couple walks through there and then we had a couple hits. But that comes from being patient. We weren’t up there free-swinging at everything.”
D. Wilkerson opened on the mound for the Spartans and struck out five batters in the game’s first two innings. The junior standout would pick up the win and end the day with a game-high nine strikeouts after only allowing two hits and one run.
“Daniel pitched good today,” Todd Wilkerson said. “Maybe not quite as good as he normally is. I think he got tired there in the later inning.
“But he still pitched a good ball game and then Damon came in and did a good job to finish it off for us.”
Stevenson would pitch the final two innings for the Spartans giving up just one run on two hits with a pair of strikeouts.
Kerr-Vance now moves onto to the NCISAA 1A quarterfinals where they will meet Wayne Christian School on Saturday. Wayne Christian is seeded fourth in the tournament, whereas Kerr-Vance is seeded fifth.
“We don’t want to go down there and lay down,” Wilkerson said. “We’re going to go down there to win. I think we can.”
