Wildcats turn back Crusaders, 8-4
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Westchester Country Day took care of business in its first playoff game to set up a possible rematch against one of its toughest opponents.
The third-seeded Wildcats scored the first eight runs of the game and rolled behind starting pitcher Alec Hunter to beat sixth-seeded Harrells Christian 8-4 on Saturday at Westchester in the quarterfinals of the NCISAA 2A baseball playoffs.
“I feel like every year we’re going to play that team. We find a way to see each other every year,” Westchester coach Mickey Williard said with a laugh. “We played well. Alec gave us a nice start on the mound – got us deep, so we didn’t have to dip too deep into our bullpen. We had a couple really squared-up balls, but, for the most part, we were just really good situationally.”
Chase Pyrtle went 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs to lead the Wildcats (14-10), who won three straight state championships from 2012 to 2014 and reached last year’s state championship series. Dalton Ward had a triple and an RBI while Seth Polen added a hit and an RBI. Ty Choplin also had an RBI.
Hunter led off the first with a single and, two batters later, Pyrtle drilled a two-run home run over the fence in center to give Westchester a 2-0 lead. The Wildcats, who were eliminated by the Crusaders in the semifinals in 2015, added single runs in the third and fourth innings before scoring three in the fifth.
“It felt pretty good,” Pyrtle said. “I felt like, as a team, we were pretty solid. We strung together some good hits and looked pretty good. … We had a runner on, so I was trying to hit something hard. First pitch curveball was a ball, so I was looking for a fastball. It just happened to come and I squared it up.
“It’s awesome. It really helps out your pitcher, really calms him down. It gets the team up too and keeps the motivation up, so it’s a huge boost for your team – especially early. … We’re a team that’s guilty of not getting up until a while in the game. So, that felt really good, and hopefully we can keep that up throughout.”
Hunter (4-2) got the win in 51/3 innings for Westchester, allowing one run on four hits, one walk and two hit batters while striking out eight. Ty Choplin and Lucas Compton combined for the final 12/3 innings, lifting the Wildcats into the semifinals where they’ll face No. 2 Faith Christian or No. 7 Westminster Catawba.
Westchester lost 4-1 against Faith on April 21 at Westchester. That game will be Tuesday at the higher seed.
“We’ve seen it a couple times this year — he can really throw the ball well when he’s on,” Williard said of Hunter. “He can mix in his changeup and have a secondary pitch going for him. And tonight his changeup was there, so we knew that we could mix and match and keep some guys off balance and use our defense.
“We’ll have to have equally as good a start as they’ll have to have to get it into the late game,” he said, looking ahead to possibly facing Faith. “If both of our top arms come out and compete well against each other, then it’ll be close down to the end and get into the bullpens. It’ll probably come down who makes the fewest mistakes — that’s usually how it works when we get late in the season.”
Chance Bryant went 2 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs while Stancil Bowles added a double and an RBI to lead Harrells (14- 8), which scored one run in the sixth and three in the seventh. Bowles took the loss in three innings on the mound, giving up four runs on four hits and one hit batter while striking out three
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Westchester Country Day took care of business in its first playoff game to set up a possible rematch against one of its toughest opponents.
The third-seeded Wildcats scored the first eight runs of the game and rolled behind starting pitcher Alec Hunter to beat sixth-seeded Harrells Christian 8-4 on Saturday at Westchester in the quarterfinals of the NCISAA 2A baseball playoffs.
“I feel like every year we’re going to play that team. We find a way to see each other every year,” Westchester coach Mickey Williard said with a laugh. “We played well. Alec gave us a nice start on the mound – got us deep, so we didn’t have to dip too deep into our bullpen. We had a couple really squared-up balls, but, for the most part, we were just really good situationally.”
Chase Pyrtle went 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs to lead the Wildcats (14-10), who won three straight state championships from 2012 to 2014 and reached last year’s state championship series. Dalton Ward had a triple and an RBI while Seth Polen added a hit and an RBI. Ty Choplin also had an RBI.
Hunter led off the first with a single and, two batters later, Pyrtle drilled a two-run home run over the fence in center to give Westchester a 2-0 lead. The Wildcats, who were eliminated by the Crusaders in the semifinals in 2015, added single runs in the third and fourth innings before scoring three in the fifth.
“It felt pretty good,” Pyrtle said. “I felt like, as a team, we were pretty solid. We strung together some good hits and looked pretty good. … We had a runner on, so I was trying to hit something hard. First pitch curveball was a ball, so I was looking for a fastball. It just happened to come and I squared it up.
“It’s awesome. It really helps out your pitcher, really calms him down. It gets the team up too and keeps the motivation up, so it’s a huge boost for your team – especially early. … We’re a team that’s guilty of not getting up until a while in the game. So, that felt really good, and hopefully we can keep that up throughout.”
Hunter (4-2) got the win in 51/3 innings for Westchester, allowing one run on four hits, one walk and two hit batters while striking out eight. Ty Choplin and Lucas Compton combined for the final 12/3 innings, lifting the Wildcats into the semifinals where they’ll face No. 2 Faith Christian or No. 7 Westminster Catawba.
Westchester lost 4-1 against Faith on April 21 at Westchester. That game will be Tuesday at the higher seed.
“We’ve seen it a couple times this year — he can really throw the ball well when he’s on,” Williard said of Hunter. “He can mix in his changeup and have a secondary pitch going for him. And tonight his changeup was there, so we knew that we could mix and match and keep some guys off balance and use our defense.
“We’ll have to have equally as good a start as they’ll have to have to get it into the late game,” he said, looking ahead to possibly facing Faith. “If both of our top arms come out and compete well against each other, then it’ll be close down to the end and get into the bullpens. It’ll probably come down who makes the fewest mistakes — that’s usually how it works when we get late in the season.”
Chance Bryant went 2 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs while Stancil Bowles added a double and an RBI to lead Harrells (14- 8), which scored one run in the sixth and three in the seventh. Bowles took the loss in three innings on the mound, giving up four runs on four hits and one hit batter while striking out three
