Foster, Wildcats stop Crusaders
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
Westchester Country Day made sure it didn’t show any signs of rust that might’ve cost it its playoff hopes.The top-seeded Wildcats jumped to a three-run lead early and, behind a stellar performance by starting pitcher Jeremiah Foster, cruised to a 7-1 win against eighth-seeded Harrells Christian on Friday at Westches-ter in the second round of the NCISAA 2A baseball playoffs.
“We feel great,” Westchester coach Mickey Williard said with a smile. “It’s the playoffs, so it doesn’tmatter how and it doesn’t matter when — just as long as you move on. We swung the bats really, really well, so we’re kind of back to where I like seeing us. We squared up a lot of balls today.
“It helps (to get back into a rhythm of playing),” he said. “Our conference tournament was rained out, so we hadn’t really played a competitive game in two weeks. We had a little scrimmage, but it’s good to face some competition andknow that we really can stilldo it.”
Foster also went 2 for 2 with two doubles and an RBI to lead the Wildcats (21-5),who hadn’t played since April
30 at Christ School. John Andrews also went 2 for 2 with a double and an RBI, while Aubrey Smith had two hits and Tyrese Hearst had a double and a single.
We s t c h e s t e r, which received a first-round bye as one of the top four seeds in the tournament, scored three
runs in the second inning on three straight RBI doubles by Chase Pyrtle, Andrews and Alec Hunter to lead 3-0.
That was plenty of cushion for Foster (6-0), who allowed just one hit in six innings.
“I thought we played well— we played as a team,” saidFoster, who struck out threewhile walking three. “There were a few nerves coming in,because if you lose now, then it’s over. But we overcame those, did what we had to do,
got a 7-1 win, and now we’ll get ready for Tuesday.
“It was great that we didn’t give up a lot of runs and have to go to the bullpen. So, now all of our pitchers are ready for Tuesday. And (working with a lead early) helped a lot as a pitcher. Just going in and knowing you have a lead, it’s a lot better than pitching when you’re down. So, it defi - nitely gives us confidence.”
He really only faced trouble in the fifth when Harrells (13-12), which totaled two hits, manufactured a run to pull within 3-1 and then moved runners to second and third with two outs. But he escaped without any more
damage and pitched a 1-2-3 sixth before reliever Drew Cottrell finished off the win in the seventh.
Will Shields added a hit and two RBIs, while Devin Lumley also had a hit and an RBI for the Wildcats, who
finished with 12 hits and will host Arendell Parrott on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the semifinals. The winners will
advance to the three-game championship series Friday and Saturday at Gaston Day
in Gastonia.
“We’ve seen them each of the past two years, and they’re a really good ballclub— very easily could’ve been
the No. 3 seed,” Williard said. “I’m pretty sure that was a toss-up between them and Northside. They can
beat anybody, so it’s going to come down to who makes the fewest mistakes. But wefeel confi dent.”
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
Westchester Country Day made sure it didn’t show any signs of rust that might’ve cost it its playoff hopes.The top-seeded Wildcats jumped to a three-run lead early and, behind a stellar performance by starting pitcher Jeremiah Foster, cruised to a 7-1 win against eighth-seeded Harrells Christian on Friday at Westches-ter in the second round of the NCISAA 2A baseball playoffs.
“We feel great,” Westchester coach Mickey Williard said with a smile. “It’s the playoffs, so it doesn’tmatter how and it doesn’t matter when — just as long as you move on. We swung the bats really, really well, so we’re kind of back to where I like seeing us. We squared up a lot of balls today.
“It helps (to get back into a rhythm of playing),” he said. “Our conference tournament was rained out, so we hadn’t really played a competitive game in two weeks. We had a little scrimmage, but it’s good to face some competition andknow that we really can stilldo it.”
Foster also went 2 for 2 with two doubles and an RBI to lead the Wildcats (21-5),who hadn’t played since April
30 at Christ School. John Andrews also went 2 for 2 with a double and an RBI, while Aubrey Smith had two hits and Tyrese Hearst had a double and a single.
We s t c h e s t e r, which received a first-round bye as one of the top four seeds in the tournament, scored three
runs in the second inning on three straight RBI doubles by Chase Pyrtle, Andrews and Alec Hunter to lead 3-0.
That was plenty of cushion for Foster (6-0), who allowed just one hit in six innings.
“I thought we played well— we played as a team,” saidFoster, who struck out threewhile walking three. “There were a few nerves coming in,because if you lose now, then it’s over. But we overcame those, did what we had to do,
got a 7-1 win, and now we’ll get ready for Tuesday.
“It was great that we didn’t give up a lot of runs and have to go to the bullpen. So, now all of our pitchers are ready for Tuesday. And (working with a lead early) helped a lot as a pitcher. Just going in and knowing you have a lead, it’s a lot better than pitching when you’re down. So, it defi - nitely gives us confidence.”
He really only faced trouble in the fifth when Harrells (13-12), which totaled two hits, manufactured a run to pull within 3-1 and then moved runners to second and third with two outs. But he escaped without any more
damage and pitched a 1-2-3 sixth before reliever Drew Cottrell finished off the win in the seventh.
Will Shields added a hit and two RBIs, while Devin Lumley also had a hit and an RBI for the Wildcats, who
finished with 12 hits and will host Arendell Parrott on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the semifinals. The winners will
advance to the three-game championship series Friday and Saturday at Gaston Day
in Gastonia.
“We’ve seen them each of the past two years, and they’re a really good ballclub— very easily could’ve been
the No. 3 seed,” Williard said. “I’m pretty sure that was a toss-up between them and Northside. They can
beat anybody, so it’s going to come down to who makes the fewest mistakes. But wefeel confi dent.”
