Wesleyan tops HPCA for PACIS crown
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
THOMASVILLE — Wesleyan Christian expected High Point Christian to come out swinging. So, finding itself down early, it just focused on continuing to fight the rest of the game. The Trojans rallied to score eight
straight runs over their final three at-bats and cruised behind pitcher Riley Isenhour to beat the Cougars 8-4 on Saturday afternoon Field and win the PACIS 2A/3A baseball championship.
This is the first outright title for Wesleyan, which won Friday’s series opener 11-1, since the conference shifted formats in 2014. The teams — both perennial state contenders — shared the previous two championships. It also puts the Trojans in great shape for the top seed in the NCISAA 3A playoffs, which will be seeded today and begin play Tuesday with
the Nos. 5-12 seeds and continue Friday and Saturday in the quarterfinals.
“We feel great about it,” Wesleyan coach Scott Davis said. “We seem to be playing well at the right time. Riley threw great today — he’s our No. 1 — and we felt good
coming into this matchup. I knew they weren’t going to die. They put a two-spot on us early, and we expected them to come out fighting — and they did.
“We were able to work around some mistakes, Riley settled in, and we got some big hits andjust played well. So, I’m proud of them. ... It’s a huge feeling. The state seeding’s (today) and, in my opinion, we’ve got to be the No. 1 seed. When you can beat a team like them twice, you feel good about it.”
Nate Blakeney had a home run, sacrifice fly and three RBIs for the Trojans (19-6, 8-0), while Adam Lassiter had a hit and two RBIs. Mark McLamb and Matt Nusdeo each had two hits, including a double, and Nusdeo added an RBI.
Wesleyan, trailing 3-0 and without a runner through the first three innings, pulled within a run on a two-run home run to left field by Blakeney in the fourth and surged ahead 6-3 with four runs on four hits in the fifth.Blakeney had a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to left, Patrick
Bailey had an RBI single to left, and Lassiter had a two-run single to right-center. Nusdeo followed with an RBI single in the sixth and later scored on a passed ball to lead 8-3.
“We just kept fighting,” Blakeney said. “That’s how we’ve been all season. My teammates and I, we just keep fighting and never give up. We just wanted to get one run at a time. We couldn’t get it with one big swing. We had to have ever yone come together and get one run at a time.
“It was just a jump start,” he said of the two-run fourth leading into the four-run fifth. “It just gave us a shot of hope. It just brought us closer and showed us that we could do it. It was great. The team was clicking on all cylinders — bunting, getting hits, getting big hits. That’s how we’ve been all season.”
Isenhour (6-2) earned the complete-game win, allowing four hits while walking one and striking out two, while Luke Gesell (5-1) took the loss, giving up four runs on five hits and one walk while striking out three in four complete innings.
Gesell went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs at the plate to lead HPCA (25-4, 6-2), while Josh Nifong, who also pitched the final two innings, had a double and sacrifice fly, and Ryan Hopkins added a double.
The Cougars started well — leading 2-0 in the fi rst on Gesell’s leadoff home run and Nifong’s sacrifice fl y and 3-0 in the fourth on a wild pitch that scored Nifong — but struggled to regain the momentum once it shifted.Still, they anticipate being one of the top four seeds in the playoffs (which would be a first-round bye and at least one home game) and contending for the state championship, which will be played May 20-21 at Finch Field.
“We came out with a lot of energy and focus and jumped out of the gate really well,”
HPCA coach Corey Gesell said. “But, as we know, the game’s seven innings and 21
outs. You’ve got to work hard to score more runs, because you know Wesleyan’s going to swing the bats. I didn’t think three runs would win it and I didn’t think four runs
would win it.
“So, give credit to their pitcher — Riley really settled down and threw good pitches. We hit some balls hard, and I was pleased with us for most of the game. ... So, we’ll see where they put us. But we’ve got to go back to practice, work on some things and tr y to get better even at this point in the season. The guys want to make a run. So, they’re ready to get back to
work and keep getting better.
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
THOMASVILLE — Wesleyan Christian expected High Point Christian to come out swinging. So, finding itself down early, it just focused on continuing to fight the rest of the game. The Trojans rallied to score eight
straight runs over their final three at-bats and cruised behind pitcher Riley Isenhour to beat the Cougars 8-4 on Saturday afternoon Field and win the PACIS 2A/3A baseball championship.
This is the first outright title for Wesleyan, which won Friday’s series opener 11-1, since the conference shifted formats in 2014. The teams — both perennial state contenders — shared the previous two championships. It also puts the Trojans in great shape for the top seed in the NCISAA 3A playoffs, which will be seeded today and begin play Tuesday with
the Nos. 5-12 seeds and continue Friday and Saturday in the quarterfinals.
“We feel great about it,” Wesleyan coach Scott Davis said. “We seem to be playing well at the right time. Riley threw great today — he’s our No. 1 — and we felt good
coming into this matchup. I knew they weren’t going to die. They put a two-spot on us early, and we expected them to come out fighting — and they did.
“We were able to work around some mistakes, Riley settled in, and we got some big hits andjust played well. So, I’m proud of them. ... It’s a huge feeling. The state seeding’s (today) and, in my opinion, we’ve got to be the No. 1 seed. When you can beat a team like them twice, you feel good about it.”
Nate Blakeney had a home run, sacrifice fly and three RBIs for the Trojans (19-6, 8-0), while Adam Lassiter had a hit and two RBIs. Mark McLamb and Matt Nusdeo each had two hits, including a double, and Nusdeo added an RBI.
Wesleyan, trailing 3-0 and without a runner through the first three innings, pulled within a run on a two-run home run to left field by Blakeney in the fourth and surged ahead 6-3 with four runs on four hits in the fifth.Blakeney had a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to left, Patrick
Bailey had an RBI single to left, and Lassiter had a two-run single to right-center. Nusdeo followed with an RBI single in the sixth and later scored on a passed ball to lead 8-3.
“We just kept fighting,” Blakeney said. “That’s how we’ve been all season. My teammates and I, we just keep fighting and never give up. We just wanted to get one run at a time. We couldn’t get it with one big swing. We had to have ever yone come together and get one run at a time.
“It was just a jump start,” he said of the two-run fourth leading into the four-run fifth. “It just gave us a shot of hope. It just brought us closer and showed us that we could do it. It was great. The team was clicking on all cylinders — bunting, getting hits, getting big hits. That’s how we’ve been all season.”
Isenhour (6-2) earned the complete-game win, allowing four hits while walking one and striking out two, while Luke Gesell (5-1) took the loss, giving up four runs on five hits and one walk while striking out three in four complete innings.
Gesell went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs at the plate to lead HPCA (25-4, 6-2), while Josh Nifong, who also pitched the final two innings, had a double and sacrifice fly, and Ryan Hopkins added a double.
The Cougars started well — leading 2-0 in the fi rst on Gesell’s leadoff home run and Nifong’s sacrifice fl y and 3-0 in the fourth on a wild pitch that scored Nifong — but struggled to regain the momentum once it shifted.Still, they anticipate being one of the top four seeds in the playoffs (which would be a first-round bye and at least one home game) and contending for the state championship, which will be played May 20-21 at Finch Field.
“We came out with a lot of energy and focus and jumped out of the gate really well,”
HPCA coach Corey Gesell said. “But, as we know, the game’s seven innings and 21
outs. You’ve got to work hard to score more runs, because you know Wesleyan’s going to swing the bats. I didn’t think three runs would win it and I didn’t think four runs
would win it.
“So, give credit to their pitcher — Riley really settled down and threw good pitches. We hit some balls hard, and I was pleased with us for most of the game. ... So, we’ll see where they put us. But we’ve got to go back to practice, work on some things and tr y to get better even at this point in the season. The guys want to make a run. So, they’re ready to get back to
work and keep getting better.
