Big inning pays for Wesleyan
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Wesleyan Christian made the most of its chances, while limiting High Point Christian’s, to pick up a big win and clinch the conference championship outright.
The Trojans scored five runs in the third inning, capitalizing on a few timely hits and a couple defensive miscues, and settled in behind pitcher Luke Davis to beat the rival Cougars 5-2 in NCISAA PACIS 3A baseball Tuesday at the High Point Athletic Complex’s Ed Price Field.
“You’re not going to bang it around the ballpark against (Brody Lawson),” Wesleyan coach Scott Davis said. “We knew that — he’s an outstanding pitcher. I thought early, when we gave up the one run, that if we could put two or three on the board, then Luke typically isn’t going to give up many. So, we had that outburst, which gave us a cushion, and we were able to maintain that.”
Luke Davis (7-0), a Louisburg College recruit, allowed one run on six hits and one walk while striking out seven for the Trojans (22-1 overall, 5-0 PACIS), who’ve won 13 of the last 15 conference titles. He worked out of jams in the first and third innings with only one run allowed and settled in from there.
The Cougars, who had runners on second and third with no outs in the first and didn’t score, were limited to just one runner in each of the second, fourth and fifth innings before Luke Davis finished with a 1-2-3 sixth and handed off to reliever Caleb Cozart for a five-batter seventh.
“It was a great win,” said Luke Davis, a senior right-hander. “We always hype up this game all year long, and we really look forward to it. It was a great team win. … Giving up that one run, I had confidence in my team that we’d get that back — and we did. We’ve dealt with that all year — especially against West Forsyth a couple weeks ago. We’re a good hitting team. And we just had all the confidence that we’d jump out there. We don’t give up or anything like that.”
Patrick Bailey and Jacob Kohns each had two hits while Jackson Prillaman had an RBI to lead Wesleyan. Kameron Heath, who had a triple, and Carson Yates each had two hits for HPCA (17-10, 3-2). Yates and Josh Nifong each finished with an RBI, while Jarrett Crump and Jackson Leck each had a double.
Brody Lawson (6-3), a UNC Wilmington recruit, took the loss for the Cougars. He allowed five runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks while striking out five in five innings. HPCA took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on an RBI single by Nifong but, trying to extend its lead, ended the inning on a play at the plate.
The Trojans then scored five runs in the bottom half on three hits — an infield single by Kohns and singles up the middle by Bailey and Nick Caldwell — and two infield errors, including one that scored two runs, to lead 5-1. The Cougars couldn’t get much until Heath tripled and Yates singled him in during the seventh. HPCA will look to even the series Friday at 4:30 p.m. on its Senior Day at Oak View Baptist.
“If you don’t capitalize, then, usually at the end of the game, you go back thinking, ‘Wow, if we’d done this and done that, then we’d have gotten some runs,’” Cougars coach Corey Gesell said. “Luke’s a tough pitcher, and he’s got a good breaking ball. We popped a few up and he got a few strikeouts. He made some good pitches, and we didn’t adjust to him as well as we’d like. But give him credit — he made some good pitches.
“We want to hit good pitches and sometimes you end up swinging at pitches that aren’t the best. So, he had us going fishing a few times. … We have to play better defense. My senior third baseman (Robert Sari) hurt his arm Sunday and wasn’t able to play. So, because of that injury, that switches everything up. But we have to play better defense and we have to find a way to get a few more hits when we have guys on base.”
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Wesleyan Christian made the most of its chances, while limiting High Point Christian’s, to pick up a big win and clinch the conference championship outright.
The Trojans scored five runs in the third inning, capitalizing on a few timely hits and a couple defensive miscues, and settled in behind pitcher Luke Davis to beat the rival Cougars 5-2 in NCISAA PACIS 3A baseball Tuesday at the High Point Athletic Complex’s Ed Price Field.
“You’re not going to bang it around the ballpark against (Brody Lawson),” Wesleyan coach Scott Davis said. “We knew that — he’s an outstanding pitcher. I thought early, when we gave up the one run, that if we could put two or three on the board, then Luke typically isn’t going to give up many. So, we had that outburst, which gave us a cushion, and we were able to maintain that.”
Luke Davis (7-0), a Louisburg College recruit, allowed one run on six hits and one walk while striking out seven for the Trojans (22-1 overall, 5-0 PACIS), who’ve won 13 of the last 15 conference titles. He worked out of jams in the first and third innings with only one run allowed and settled in from there.
The Cougars, who had runners on second and third with no outs in the first and didn’t score, were limited to just one runner in each of the second, fourth and fifth innings before Luke Davis finished with a 1-2-3 sixth and handed off to reliever Caleb Cozart for a five-batter seventh.
“It was a great win,” said Luke Davis, a senior right-hander. “We always hype up this game all year long, and we really look forward to it. It was a great team win. … Giving up that one run, I had confidence in my team that we’d get that back — and we did. We’ve dealt with that all year — especially against West Forsyth a couple weeks ago. We’re a good hitting team. And we just had all the confidence that we’d jump out there. We don’t give up or anything like that.”
Patrick Bailey and Jacob Kohns each had two hits while Jackson Prillaman had an RBI to lead Wesleyan. Kameron Heath, who had a triple, and Carson Yates each had two hits for HPCA (17-10, 3-2). Yates and Josh Nifong each finished with an RBI, while Jarrett Crump and Jackson Leck each had a double.
Brody Lawson (6-3), a UNC Wilmington recruit, took the loss for the Cougars. He allowed five runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks while striking out five in five innings. HPCA took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on an RBI single by Nifong but, trying to extend its lead, ended the inning on a play at the plate.
The Trojans then scored five runs in the bottom half on three hits — an infield single by Kohns and singles up the middle by Bailey and Nick Caldwell — and two infield errors, including one that scored two runs, to lead 5-1. The Cougars couldn’t get much until Heath tripled and Yates singled him in during the seventh. HPCA will look to even the series Friday at 4:30 p.m. on its Senior Day at Oak View Baptist.
“If you don’t capitalize, then, usually at the end of the game, you go back thinking, ‘Wow, if we’d done this and done that, then we’d have gotten some runs,’” Cougars coach Corey Gesell said. “Luke’s a tough pitcher, and he’s got a good breaking ball. We popped a few up and he got a few strikeouts. He made some good pitches, and we didn’t adjust to him as well as we’d like. But give him credit — he made some good pitches.
“We want to hit good pitches and sometimes you end up swinging at pitches that aren’t the best. So, he had us going fishing a few times. … We have to play better defense. My senior third baseman (Robert Sari) hurt his arm Sunday and wasn’t able to play. So, because of that injury, that switches everything up. But we have to play better defense and we have to find a way to get a few more hits when we have guys on base.”
