Northside shocks Westchester for title
Greer Smith HIGH POINT ENTERPRISE
HIGH POINT — When the routine grounder to second produced the final out, Westchester Country Day School players bent their heads in dejection while those from Northside Christian coalesced in celebration in the middle of the infield.
What began on a positive note for the Wildcats turned into disappointment as Northside won the last two games of a best of three series to capture the NCISAA 2A baseball championship on Monday.
All three games in the rain-delayed championship round were played at Westchester.
“That was our best three games at the right time,” Northside coach Brian Larsen said. “For us to battle and have good at-bats against the best pitching staff in North Carolina speaks volumes about hard they worked and how bad they wanted it.”
The Wildcats took the first game 7-2, capped by Chase Pyrtle’s game-clinching three-run homer. Northside rode the arm of its top pitcher, Alec Huffstickler, to a 3-2 win in the second game as Westchester couldn’t push the tying and go-ahead runs across in the seventh.
The Knights took the third game 7-6 as the Wildcats were their worst enemy early, committing six misplays in the field that helped lead to six runs in the first three innings.
“That was uncharacteristic of us,” Westchester coach Mickey Williard said.
In Game 3, Westchester fought back and pulled within a run in the sixth on Mac Starbuck’s two-run homer. Little-used Knights pitcher Caleb McCrary, who was making his third start of the season, got the Wildcats in order in the seventhnto wrap up what he said was the first complete game of his career.
“We pitch and play defense and score just enough runs to win — that’s what we do,” Williard said. “That was probably the most errors we’ve made in a game all year. The ball just bounced the wrong way at the wrong time.”
The sloppiness in the third game came right from the start as the first three Northside batters reached on a bad hop grounder and two dropped fly balls. Two runs scored on a single by Huffstickler.
“We were just lackadaisical,” Pyrtle said. “It was on us. After we won the first game, we thought we were going to win the second. We took things for granted.”
Westchester fought back in the bottom of the f rst on a hit batter, sacrifice and Tyrese Hearst’s RBI single;and a two-run single by Pyrtle that scored Hearst and Devin Lumley, who reached on a walk.
Northside regained the lead in the top of the secondon an RBI single and a run scoring wild pitch; and added two more in the third. Westchester got a run back in the bottom of third to make it 6-4 when Drew Cottrell tripled home John Andrews, but Cottrell was thrown out at the plate trying to score after the throw to third sailed high.
The Knights posted their final run on an RBI double in the fifth. McCrary sailed through the fifth. In the sixth, Pyrtle led off with a single that went to the base of the wall in right-center and Starbuck launched a shot over the wall in almost the exact same place two batters later to make it 7-6. McCrary breezed through the seventh for Northside (21-6). Westchester ended 23-6.
“I wanted to go back out there and get the win, so I went out there and got it,” McCrary said. Larsen said he thought the key was Huffstickler prevailing in Game 2 after the Wildcats scored all seven runs in Game 1 off starter J.T. Agosto. “We held (Huffstickler) until Game 2 thinking that he could either win the series or save our season, and he saved our season,” Larsen said. “He pitched a gem.” Huffstickler held the Wildcats hitless for four innings and allowed two meaningless hits in the fi fth. Bad fielding in the sixth kept him from a shutout. Alec Hunter reached on a throwing error and Starbuck walked. After another walk, Hunter and Starbuck scored when the relay throw frosecond to first on a double play attempt sailed wide ofthe bag.
Westchester put two runners on in the seventh on Pyrtle’s single and a hit batsman. But Huffstickler closedout the game with two strikeouts.
“We came back with a chipon our shoulder after the first game,” Huffstickler said. “But once we saw we could beat them, we were confident that we could win Game 3.”
Westchester fell behind 1-0 in Game 1, then took the lead for good with three runs in the third. Andrews led of f with an infield hit, went to third as Dalton Harris reached first on a throwing error and scored on Starbuck’s sacrifice fly. two walks loaded the bases, Harris and Jeremiah Foster scored when a pickoff attempt went down the leftfield line.
Northside picked up a run in the fifth on a RBi single. Westchester responded with four with Aubrey Smith’s RBi single preceding Pyrtle’s three-run blast. Foster gave up three hits, a run and struck out five in the first five innings as he picked up the win. Will Shields took the loss in the second game after giving up all three Northside runs. Cottrell, who started, was the losing pitcher in the Game 3.
“It’s a sick taste in your mouth when you stepped on the field the better team and you didn’t play better,” Williard said. “No discredit to them. They made the absolute most out of what they had, a bunch of singles and a bunch of walks. We drove the ball really well. We just needed one more big swing
Greer Smith HIGH POINT ENTERPRISE
HIGH POINT — When the routine grounder to second produced the final out, Westchester Country Day School players bent their heads in dejection while those from Northside Christian coalesced in celebration in the middle of the infield.
What began on a positive note for the Wildcats turned into disappointment as Northside won the last two games of a best of three series to capture the NCISAA 2A baseball championship on Monday.
All three games in the rain-delayed championship round were played at Westchester.
“That was our best three games at the right time,” Northside coach Brian Larsen said. “For us to battle and have good at-bats against the best pitching staff in North Carolina speaks volumes about hard they worked and how bad they wanted it.”
The Wildcats took the first game 7-2, capped by Chase Pyrtle’s game-clinching three-run homer. Northside rode the arm of its top pitcher, Alec Huffstickler, to a 3-2 win in the second game as Westchester couldn’t push the tying and go-ahead runs across in the seventh.
The Knights took the third game 7-6 as the Wildcats were their worst enemy early, committing six misplays in the field that helped lead to six runs in the first three innings.
“That was uncharacteristic of us,” Westchester coach Mickey Williard said.
In Game 3, Westchester fought back and pulled within a run in the sixth on Mac Starbuck’s two-run homer. Little-used Knights pitcher Caleb McCrary, who was making his third start of the season, got the Wildcats in order in the seventhnto wrap up what he said was the first complete game of his career.
“We pitch and play defense and score just enough runs to win — that’s what we do,” Williard said. “That was probably the most errors we’ve made in a game all year. The ball just bounced the wrong way at the wrong time.”
The sloppiness in the third game came right from the start as the first three Northside batters reached on a bad hop grounder and two dropped fly balls. Two runs scored on a single by Huffstickler.
“We were just lackadaisical,” Pyrtle said. “It was on us. After we won the first game, we thought we were going to win the second. We took things for granted.”
Westchester fought back in the bottom of the f rst on a hit batter, sacrifice and Tyrese Hearst’s RBI single;and a two-run single by Pyrtle that scored Hearst and Devin Lumley, who reached on a walk.
Northside regained the lead in the top of the secondon an RBI single and a run scoring wild pitch; and added two more in the third. Westchester got a run back in the bottom of third to make it 6-4 when Drew Cottrell tripled home John Andrews, but Cottrell was thrown out at the plate trying to score after the throw to third sailed high.
The Knights posted their final run on an RBI double in the fifth. McCrary sailed through the fifth. In the sixth, Pyrtle led off with a single that went to the base of the wall in right-center and Starbuck launched a shot over the wall in almost the exact same place two batters later to make it 7-6. McCrary breezed through the seventh for Northside (21-6). Westchester ended 23-6.
“I wanted to go back out there and get the win, so I went out there and got it,” McCrary said. Larsen said he thought the key was Huffstickler prevailing in Game 2 after the Wildcats scored all seven runs in Game 1 off starter J.T. Agosto. “We held (Huffstickler) until Game 2 thinking that he could either win the series or save our season, and he saved our season,” Larsen said. “He pitched a gem.” Huffstickler held the Wildcats hitless for four innings and allowed two meaningless hits in the fi fth. Bad fielding in the sixth kept him from a shutout. Alec Hunter reached on a throwing error and Starbuck walked. After another walk, Hunter and Starbuck scored when the relay throw frosecond to first on a double play attempt sailed wide ofthe bag.
Westchester put two runners on in the seventh on Pyrtle’s single and a hit batsman. But Huffstickler closedout the game with two strikeouts.
“We came back with a chipon our shoulder after the first game,” Huffstickler said. “But once we saw we could beat them, we were confident that we could win Game 3.”
Westchester fell behind 1-0 in Game 1, then took the lead for good with three runs in the third. Andrews led of f with an infield hit, went to third as Dalton Harris reached first on a throwing error and scored on Starbuck’s sacrifice fly. two walks loaded the bases, Harris and Jeremiah Foster scored when a pickoff attempt went down the leftfield line.
Northside picked up a run in the fifth on a RBi single. Westchester responded with four with Aubrey Smith’s RBi single preceding Pyrtle’s three-run blast. Foster gave up three hits, a run and struck out five in the first five innings as he picked up the win. Will Shields took the loss in the second game after giving up all three Northside runs. Cottrell, who started, was the losing pitcher in the Game 3.
“It’s a sick taste in your mouth when you stepped on the field the better team and you didn’t play better,” Williard said. “No discredit to them. They made the absolute most out of what they had, a bunch of singles and a bunch of walks. We drove the ball really well. We just needed one more big swing
