WCA bats go cold in loss to Wake County Warriors
Posted on March 15, 2022
By Andrew Schnittker
aschnittker@wilsontimes.com | 252-265-7807 | Twitter: @aschnitt53
Coming off back-to-back wins in which the Chargers scored 10 runs last week, the Wilson Christian varsity baseball team could not keep its momentum going at home Monday night, falling 9-0 to the Wake County Warriors home school team.
The Chargers (3-3) mustered just two hits against the Warriors’ (8-2) pitching staff. Houston Sarvis was excellent on the mound for the Warriors, as he allowed just one hit in five shutout innings while striking out 10 and walking one as he flummoxed the Chargers with his curve ball.
“They started a really good curve ball thrower,” said Wilson Christian head coach Ty Bissett. “He had a decent fastball, but his curve ball was nasty. We’d been seeing a lot of fastballs early against other teams and jumping on them, and we didn’t have that luxury tonight. He kept us at bay and we felt like our batters were just intimidated by his curve ball. We’re going to have to do better than that.”
Wilson Christian’s Robert Tyson took the loss, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out four and walking one in 2 1/3 innings.
Levi Baker led the Warriors with a 3-for-4 game, including a two-run homer as he drove in three runs and scored twice himself.
“They’re a good hitting, swinging team,” Bissett said. “Our starting pitcher did his job. We made an error and they scored a run off him that should have never been scored. It should have been 0-0 going into the third or fourth inning but it wasn’t. And then in the sixth, we made some boo-boos. That’s just baseball. If you give a good team four or five outs, they’re going to hurt you.”
After the Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, they broke it open with three in the third. With Wake County up 2-0 and a runner on first with one out, Baker hammered a pitch over the left-field fence to make it 4-0. The Warriors tacked on another in the top of the fourth, and the early deficit pushed the Chargers into bad habits at the plate.
“We were swinging at the wrong pitches,” Bissett said. “We took the good pitch and swung at the bad pitch. We knew the curve ball was coming and there wasn’t anything you could do. That put pressure on the whole lineup. We really just didn’t swing the bat good tonight against a good pitcher. But that’s what he’s supposed to do. They call him the equalizer, so he did his job.”
After the Warriors replaced Sarvis with Alex Pinkham, the Chargers threatened down 5-0 in the bottom of the sixth. Parker Bunn drew a walk to lead off the inning, and Simon Quinn come through with a one-out single. With the runners moved up 90 feet and two outs, the Warriors intentionally walked Apollos Horrell to load the bases. Jameson Overton struck out to end the threat, however.
Wake County then tacked on four more runs in the top of the ninth, and, despite putting two on in the bottom of the seventh, the Chargers couldn’t get a run across.
“That’s what I told them,” Bissett said. “At least we put ourselves in a position to score there. It was 9-0, but that really wasn’t the score of the game. It was 5-0. We bang two runs right there, you’ve got a different momentum with us being the home team, but we just didn’t take care of business.”
The Chargers will look to bounce back with a trip to Wake Christian Academy Thursday.
“Live and learn,” Bissett said. “One big positive is we subbed right there at the end of the game, and two subs got on. That’s always positive to see. And everybody else hadn’t been getting on. So we play off of that. That’s what you’re supposed to do when your number gets called, so that’s a positive. And we’re going to move forward. I don’t like losing, but when we lose, we learn. Winning’s easy. When you’re winning, everything’s OK. But we learn when we lose.”
WCW 013 100 4 — 9
WCA 000 000 0 — 0
WP-Houston Sarvis (2-0) 5 IP 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K.
LP-Robert Tyson (0-1) 2.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
LEADING HITTERS — Wake County Levi Baker 3-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI; Cooper Clark 3-5, 2B, 1 RBI; Ethan Evans 2-3, 2B, R, RBI. Wilson Christian: Brayden Jones 1-1.
Posted on March 15, 2022
By Andrew Schnittker
aschnittker@wilsontimes.com | 252-265-7807 | Twitter: @aschnitt53
Coming off back-to-back wins in which the Chargers scored 10 runs last week, the Wilson Christian varsity baseball team could not keep its momentum going at home Monday night, falling 9-0 to the Wake County Warriors home school team.
The Chargers (3-3) mustered just two hits against the Warriors’ (8-2) pitching staff. Houston Sarvis was excellent on the mound for the Warriors, as he allowed just one hit in five shutout innings while striking out 10 and walking one as he flummoxed the Chargers with his curve ball.
“They started a really good curve ball thrower,” said Wilson Christian head coach Ty Bissett. “He had a decent fastball, but his curve ball was nasty. We’d been seeing a lot of fastballs early against other teams and jumping on them, and we didn’t have that luxury tonight. He kept us at bay and we felt like our batters were just intimidated by his curve ball. We’re going to have to do better than that.”
Wilson Christian’s Robert Tyson took the loss, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out four and walking one in 2 1/3 innings.
Levi Baker led the Warriors with a 3-for-4 game, including a two-run homer as he drove in three runs and scored twice himself.
“They’re a good hitting, swinging team,” Bissett said. “Our starting pitcher did his job. We made an error and they scored a run off him that should have never been scored. It should have been 0-0 going into the third or fourth inning but it wasn’t. And then in the sixth, we made some boo-boos. That’s just baseball. If you give a good team four or five outs, they’re going to hurt you.”
After the Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, they broke it open with three in the third. With Wake County up 2-0 and a runner on first with one out, Baker hammered a pitch over the left-field fence to make it 4-0. The Warriors tacked on another in the top of the fourth, and the early deficit pushed the Chargers into bad habits at the plate.
“We were swinging at the wrong pitches,” Bissett said. “We took the good pitch and swung at the bad pitch. We knew the curve ball was coming and there wasn’t anything you could do. That put pressure on the whole lineup. We really just didn’t swing the bat good tonight against a good pitcher. But that’s what he’s supposed to do. They call him the equalizer, so he did his job.”
After the Warriors replaced Sarvis with Alex Pinkham, the Chargers threatened down 5-0 in the bottom of the sixth. Parker Bunn drew a walk to lead off the inning, and Simon Quinn come through with a one-out single. With the runners moved up 90 feet and two outs, the Warriors intentionally walked Apollos Horrell to load the bases. Jameson Overton struck out to end the threat, however.
Wake County then tacked on four more runs in the top of the ninth, and, despite putting two on in the bottom of the seventh, the Chargers couldn’t get a run across.
“That’s what I told them,” Bissett said. “At least we put ourselves in a position to score there. It was 9-0, but that really wasn’t the score of the game. It was 5-0. We bang two runs right there, you’ve got a different momentum with us being the home team, but we just didn’t take care of business.”
The Chargers will look to bounce back with a trip to Wake Christian Academy Thursday.
“Live and learn,” Bissett said. “One big positive is we subbed right there at the end of the game, and two subs got on. That’s always positive to see. And everybody else hadn’t been getting on. So we play off of that. That’s what you’re supposed to do when your number gets called, so that’s a positive. And we’re going to move forward. I don’t like losing, but when we lose, we learn. Winning’s easy. When you’re winning, everything’s OK. But we learn when we lose.”
WCW 013 100 4 — 9
WCA 000 000 0 — 0
WP-Houston Sarvis (2-0) 5 IP 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K.
LP-Robert Tyson (0-1) 2.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
LEADING HITTERS — Wake County Levi Baker 3-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI; Cooper Clark 3-5, 2B, 1 RBI; Ethan Evans 2-3, 2B, R, RBI. Wilson Christian: Brayden Jones 1-1.
