Crossroads baseball earns hard-fought first win over Lee Christian
By Brandon White bwhite@hendersondispatch.com
HENDERSON – An intense game broke out between the Crossroads Christian and Lee Christian baseball programs on Friday evening as they each looked to notch their first victory of the season.
Battling fading daylight and fatigue, Crossroads saw a six-run lead evaporate during the fifth and final inning but they managed to halt Lee Christian’s momentum just enough to hold an 8-7 advantage when the game was called due to darkness.
An ecstatic Trey Snide was thrilled to see Crossroads finally celebrate a win after four tough outings but admitted that Friday’s triumphant outcome would not have been possible without the composure sophomore Noah Newbern showed on the mound.
“What can I say about our player of the game in Noah Newbern?” Snide said. “I called him last night to let him know he was starting but Noah was ready to roll. This is the best I’ve seen him pitch in the three years I’ve been here. He was fantastic.”
Snide believed that Friday’s victory was his team’s best performance of the season through five games.
Outside of Newbern’s efficiency on the mound, Snide said that his team’s biggest strength was their communication, which had been a problem up to that point. With the players effectively communicating, Crossroads managed to come up with key stops as Lee Christian gradually fell behind.
All of the improvements enabled Crossroads to establish a comfortable 8-2 until the fifth inning when several great plays from Lee Christian, including a three RBI double, brought them within range of taking the lead.
Snide elected to relieve Newbern atop the mound so that senior Ryan Adcock could finish out the game, which wrapped up a stellar evening for Newbern that saw him accumulate 10 strikeouts against Lee Christian.
Newbern does everything possible to embody Snide’s motto of baseball being fun when the players are having fun. He credited the energy of the Crossroads dugout for keeping him relaxed but confident as he struck out one Lee Christian batter after the other.
“I have to thank my dugout,” Newbern said. “Every time I throw a ball, I take a breath and smile. What helped me [on Friday] was smiling and having fun. Baseball is a hard game but you’re at your best when you’re having fun.”
Now that he and his teammates finally have a win on the year, Newbern is confident that Crossroads can build upon their strengths from Friday’s matchup to put together more competitive games against tough opponents like Kerr-Vance Academy and Grace Christian.
“[Friday] was a great start for what the rest of our season is going to look like,” Newbern said. “This was the best we’ve played and communicated together and I think this will be a great boost for us moving forward.”
Although Lee Christian did tally five runs in the fifth inning, Snide said that the key component separating Friday’s game from their four losses was finishing strong even when momentum started to shift away from Crossroads.
Like Newbern, Snide believes that Crossroads is going to win several more games before the 2022 season concludes and is counting on his players to remember what worked for them against Lee Christian so they can maintain their positive trajectory.
“We have to keep doing what we’re doing,” Snide said. “Lee Christian is always competitive and beat us twice last year by ten, so we beat a good team. We hit much better and we were calm at the plate, so if we keep doing that and continue to communicate, we can move forward.”
The first game up on the schedule for Crossroads next week will be a home, non-conference matchup against Community Christian at 5 p.m..
By Brandon White bwhite@hendersondispatch.com
HENDERSON – An intense game broke out between the Crossroads Christian and Lee Christian baseball programs on Friday evening as they each looked to notch their first victory of the season.
Battling fading daylight and fatigue, Crossroads saw a six-run lead evaporate during the fifth and final inning but they managed to halt Lee Christian’s momentum just enough to hold an 8-7 advantage when the game was called due to darkness.
An ecstatic Trey Snide was thrilled to see Crossroads finally celebrate a win after four tough outings but admitted that Friday’s triumphant outcome would not have been possible without the composure sophomore Noah Newbern showed on the mound.
“What can I say about our player of the game in Noah Newbern?” Snide said. “I called him last night to let him know he was starting but Noah was ready to roll. This is the best I’ve seen him pitch in the three years I’ve been here. He was fantastic.”
Snide believed that Friday’s victory was his team’s best performance of the season through five games.
Outside of Newbern’s efficiency on the mound, Snide said that his team’s biggest strength was their communication, which had been a problem up to that point. With the players effectively communicating, Crossroads managed to come up with key stops as Lee Christian gradually fell behind.
All of the improvements enabled Crossroads to establish a comfortable 8-2 until the fifth inning when several great plays from Lee Christian, including a three RBI double, brought them within range of taking the lead.
Snide elected to relieve Newbern atop the mound so that senior Ryan Adcock could finish out the game, which wrapped up a stellar evening for Newbern that saw him accumulate 10 strikeouts against Lee Christian.
Newbern does everything possible to embody Snide’s motto of baseball being fun when the players are having fun. He credited the energy of the Crossroads dugout for keeping him relaxed but confident as he struck out one Lee Christian batter after the other.
“I have to thank my dugout,” Newbern said. “Every time I throw a ball, I take a breath and smile. What helped me [on Friday] was smiling and having fun. Baseball is a hard game but you’re at your best when you’re having fun.”
Now that he and his teammates finally have a win on the year, Newbern is confident that Crossroads can build upon their strengths from Friday’s matchup to put together more competitive games against tough opponents like Kerr-Vance Academy and Grace Christian.
“[Friday] was a great start for what the rest of our season is going to look like,” Newbern said. “This was the best we’ve played and communicated together and I think this will be a great boost for us moving forward.”
Although Lee Christian did tally five runs in the fifth inning, Snide said that the key component separating Friday’s game from their four losses was finishing strong even when momentum started to shift away from Crossroads.
Like Newbern, Snide believes that Crossroads is going to win several more games before the 2022 season concludes and is counting on his players to remember what worked for them against Lee Christian so they can maintain their positive trajectory.
“We have to keep doing what we’re doing,” Snide said. “Lee Christian is always competitive and beat us twice last year by ten, so we beat a good team. We hit much better and we were calm at the plate, so if we keep doing that and continue to communicate, we can move forward.”
The first game up on the schedule for Crossroads next week will be a home, non-conference matchup against Community Christian at 5 p.m..
