FCS baseball advances to state semifinals
By PATRICK MASON ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM
Sports Writer
Saturday, May 12, 2018
If Alex Crosby has any regrets, it’s that he wished he threw his two-seam fastball earlier in the season.
The Faith Christian School pitcher has been using that pitch frequently over his past three starts, and went to it often on Saturday in the third round of the NCISAA 2-A playoffs against visiting Westminster Catawba Christian.
Crosby, after finding a new confidence in the pitch, used it to shut down a potent offense as the left-hander spun a gem in a 4-1 victory that sent the Patriots into the semifinals, one win away from advancing to the state championship series.
“We’re one game away from being in the same place as last year,” Crosby said of the state title he and his teammates won a year ago. “Just the feeling we had of why not us, we all had this mindset of let’s go get that feeling again.”
Second-seeded Faith Christian (18-7) hadn’t played a game in more than a week after being idle with byes in the first two rounds. The team stayed fresh by playing an intrasquad game on Tuesday. The Patriots’ opponent had no such break, and earned a win on Thursday, then almost stole another win over FCS.
“That’s the best No. 7 seed I’ve ever seen,” Patriots coach Greg Clifton said about Catawba. “They’re pretty darn good.”
Crosby worked out of an early jam with the help of some unfortunate baserunning from the Indians. After a leadoff double by Andrew Alejandro, the next batter hit a hot smash to shortstop, and the ball hit Alejandro’s foot for the first out.
Crosby then picked off the runner at first, and induced an infield pop out to escape the inning. As a left-hander, Crosby has a knack for picking off runners who stray too far off the bag. His pickoff in the first inning put a scare into the aggressive mentality of the Indians, and limited the run game.
Catawba would steal just one bag the rest of the way, and it came on a slow breaking ball from Crosby.
“I had a few lucky breaks today,” Crosby said. “That double, he really hit it, then he had some bad luck getting hit by the ball. And the next guy, I picked him off first, and just showing that move early, and working in different moves, you could tell it was in the back of their minds.”
The Indians (14-6) had a runner reach base in each inning, and had several chances to score. With one out in the fourth, they tried to steal a run by attempting to swipe home. Crosby was working out of the stretch, and with his back turned the runner on third dashed for home.
A squeeze bunt attempt missed, and the pitch made it to the catcher, who tagged out the Catawba runner just in time to keep the score at 0-0. It was a huge moment in a tight game, as the run felt ever important at the time.
FCS played Catawba last season in the third round and won en route to a state championship. Crosby remembered familiar faces in the lineup that proved to be dangerous hitters a year ago, and the Patriots starter knew that he couldn’t make mistakes to the top half of the order.
“One through five, they can all hit,” Crosby said. “I remembered them from last year, and I was trying to get them good pitches that they can’t hit out. We gave up a home run to them last year, and they hit 13 homers this year already, so tried to keep it low and outside.”
Alejandro hit a solo home run during a playoff loss to the Patriots last season, and had a strong day at the plate on Saturday. The leadoff hitter went 3-for-4 with two doubles, and his lone out was a long flyout to the wall in center.
But Crosby was better on Saturday. He struck out six and scattered seven hits, keeping the Patriots in the game long enough for the offense to come through.
Back-to-back misjudged fly balls in center field allowed FCS to scores all four of its runs — two apiece on each hit — as Hobart Brantley and Chase Johnson each hit balls into the outfield that managed to land on the grass.
With a lead, Garrett Pannell entered and got the final four outs. He spoke with a friend and N.C. Wesleyan pitcher Luke Mills before the game, and Mills handed out advice on how to close out games on the mound.
“He just talked to be about being a reliever,” Pannell said. “I listened to what he said, split the plate in half in my mind, and went to work.”
By PATRICK MASON ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM
Sports Writer
Saturday, May 12, 2018
If Alex Crosby has any regrets, it’s that he wished he threw his two-seam fastball earlier in the season.
The Faith Christian School pitcher has been using that pitch frequently over his past three starts, and went to it often on Saturday in the third round of the NCISAA 2-A playoffs against visiting Westminster Catawba Christian.
Crosby, after finding a new confidence in the pitch, used it to shut down a potent offense as the left-hander spun a gem in a 4-1 victory that sent the Patriots into the semifinals, one win away from advancing to the state championship series.
“We’re one game away from being in the same place as last year,” Crosby said of the state title he and his teammates won a year ago. “Just the feeling we had of why not us, we all had this mindset of let’s go get that feeling again.”
Second-seeded Faith Christian (18-7) hadn’t played a game in more than a week after being idle with byes in the first two rounds. The team stayed fresh by playing an intrasquad game on Tuesday. The Patriots’ opponent had no such break, and earned a win on Thursday, then almost stole another win over FCS.
“That’s the best No. 7 seed I’ve ever seen,” Patriots coach Greg Clifton said about Catawba. “They’re pretty darn good.”
Crosby worked out of an early jam with the help of some unfortunate baserunning from the Indians. After a leadoff double by Andrew Alejandro, the next batter hit a hot smash to shortstop, and the ball hit Alejandro’s foot for the first out.
Crosby then picked off the runner at first, and induced an infield pop out to escape the inning. As a left-hander, Crosby has a knack for picking off runners who stray too far off the bag. His pickoff in the first inning put a scare into the aggressive mentality of the Indians, and limited the run game.
Catawba would steal just one bag the rest of the way, and it came on a slow breaking ball from Crosby.
“I had a few lucky breaks today,” Crosby said. “That double, he really hit it, then he had some bad luck getting hit by the ball. And the next guy, I picked him off first, and just showing that move early, and working in different moves, you could tell it was in the back of their minds.”
The Indians (14-6) had a runner reach base in each inning, and had several chances to score. With one out in the fourth, they tried to steal a run by attempting to swipe home. Crosby was working out of the stretch, and with his back turned the runner on third dashed for home.
A squeeze bunt attempt missed, and the pitch made it to the catcher, who tagged out the Catawba runner just in time to keep the score at 0-0. It was a huge moment in a tight game, as the run felt ever important at the time.
FCS played Catawba last season in the third round and won en route to a state championship. Crosby remembered familiar faces in the lineup that proved to be dangerous hitters a year ago, and the Patriots starter knew that he couldn’t make mistakes to the top half of the order.
“One through five, they can all hit,” Crosby said. “I remembered them from last year, and I was trying to get them good pitches that they can’t hit out. We gave up a home run to them last year, and they hit 13 homers this year already, so tried to keep it low and outside.”
Alejandro hit a solo home run during a playoff loss to the Patriots last season, and had a strong day at the plate on Saturday. The leadoff hitter went 3-for-4 with two doubles, and his lone out was a long flyout to the wall in center.
But Crosby was better on Saturday. He struck out six and scattered seven hits, keeping the Patriots in the game long enough for the offense to come through.
Back-to-back misjudged fly balls in center field allowed FCS to scores all four of its runs — two apiece on each hit — as Hobart Brantley and Chase Johnson each hit balls into the outfield that managed to land on the grass.
With a lead, Garrett Pannell entered and got the final four outs. He spoke with a friend and N.C. Wesleyan pitcher Luke Mills before the game, and Mills handed out advice on how to close out games on the mound.
“He just talked to be about being a reliever,” Pannell said. “I listened to what he said, split the plate in half in my mind, and went to work.”
