Wesleyan rallies in playoff opener
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Wesleyan Christian didn’t play its best game. But, in the play-offs, all that mattered was that it found a way to win.The top-seeded Trojans scored five straight runs after falling behind early and did enough on the mound and defensively to hold off eighth-seeded Metrolina Christian 7-3 on Thursday at Wesleyan’s new fi eld in the quarterfi nals of the NCISAA 4A baseball playoffs.
“Typically, ever y year this game is tough,” Wesleyan coach Scott Davis said. “Because typically your guys are not as ready as they would be. Sometimes they take teams for granted and sometimes they take teams lightly because they might see a team’s record that’s not as good as they might think. So, to keep them motivated is tough and it’s easy to come out here flat — which we were.
“We had a game plan of throwing four guys — two, two, two and one, which wedid. But we just didn’t throw it well tonight. They swung the bats early, got eight hits against us and we put enough runs on the board. But we can’t come out like this Tuesday — I don’t care who we play. We’ve got to bring our A game and tonight was not representative of our team. Just fl at, sluggish.
”Caleb Cozart went 3 for 4 with three RBIs — hitting a two-run home run in the fourth that gave him 18 for his career and surpassed the school record set by current major leaguer Wil Myers — to lead the Trojans (15-4). Chet Sikes added two hits, including a double, and two runs.Luke Barrow also had two hits while Nick Boles tacked on a hit and a sacrifice fly as Wesleyan, winner of the last three 3A state championships before moving up to 4A this year, answered the Warriors’ one run in the top of the first with four in the bottom half and another run in the third to lead 5-1.
“Winning’s the name of the game,” said Caleb Cozart, a senior who has signed with North Carolina. “You have to find a way — any way. The pitchers they threw were not the best — pretty slow. We made adjustments at the plate, scored seven runs and did pretty well — we won the game.
“That’s a huge weight off my shoulders,” he said of surpassing Myers’ record. “I think I’ve been tied with that record since March, when I got hurt (he missed seven games after injuring his side). So, being able to come back and hit that is great — it’s a huge weight off my shoulders.
”The Trojans’ pitching wasn’t its sharpest, but it got the job done while the defense made a couple nice plays. Barrow, Gavyn Byrd and Jacob Cozart each threw two innings before Caleb Cozart threw one. They limited Metrolina to single runs in the first, fourth and sixth while scattering eight hits and just one walk. But they weren’t overpowering either, as the Warriors (15-9) were led by Blake Patterson and Wes Bowlin with two hits each, Tommy Miller with a double and an RBI and Jett Townson with a hit and two RBIs. Byrd got the win in relief while Metrolina starter Ben Poplin took the loss in five innings.
Wesleyan will host either Wake Christian or fourth-seeded Providence Day in the semifi nals Tuesday tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m.
“There have been years where we’ve won this game 2-1, 1-0 against a good arm — maybe an average team but a good arm,” Davis said. “So, you just kind of move on. It’s the playoffs, so you don’t really focus on all that stuff. You just say, ‘All right, guys, it’s the playoffs and we won the game. So, let’s focus on the next guy.’ We don’t spend a lot of time worry-ing about what we did ....“We’ll address it.
We’ve been hot lately. We’re playing really well. We had the big win against High Point Christian and we’ve had a lot of big wins against really good teams. This team is resilient and they tend to fight. They do have a tendency to play down at times like we did tonight. So, I’m pleased with how we’ve been playing, but I knew this was going to be a tough game tonight.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com@HPEmichael
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Wesleyan Christian didn’t play its best game. But, in the play-offs, all that mattered was that it found a way to win.The top-seeded Trojans scored five straight runs after falling behind early and did enough on the mound and defensively to hold off eighth-seeded Metrolina Christian 7-3 on Thursday at Wesleyan’s new fi eld in the quarterfi nals of the NCISAA 4A baseball playoffs.
“Typically, ever y year this game is tough,” Wesleyan coach Scott Davis said. “Because typically your guys are not as ready as they would be. Sometimes they take teams for granted and sometimes they take teams lightly because they might see a team’s record that’s not as good as they might think. So, to keep them motivated is tough and it’s easy to come out here flat — which we were.
“We had a game plan of throwing four guys — two, two, two and one, which wedid. But we just didn’t throw it well tonight. They swung the bats early, got eight hits against us and we put enough runs on the board. But we can’t come out like this Tuesday — I don’t care who we play. We’ve got to bring our A game and tonight was not representative of our team. Just fl at, sluggish.
”Caleb Cozart went 3 for 4 with three RBIs — hitting a two-run home run in the fourth that gave him 18 for his career and surpassed the school record set by current major leaguer Wil Myers — to lead the Trojans (15-4). Chet Sikes added two hits, including a double, and two runs.Luke Barrow also had two hits while Nick Boles tacked on a hit and a sacrifice fly as Wesleyan, winner of the last three 3A state championships before moving up to 4A this year, answered the Warriors’ one run in the top of the first with four in the bottom half and another run in the third to lead 5-1.
“Winning’s the name of the game,” said Caleb Cozart, a senior who has signed with North Carolina. “You have to find a way — any way. The pitchers they threw were not the best — pretty slow. We made adjustments at the plate, scored seven runs and did pretty well — we won the game.
“That’s a huge weight off my shoulders,” he said of surpassing Myers’ record. “I think I’ve been tied with that record since March, when I got hurt (he missed seven games after injuring his side). So, being able to come back and hit that is great — it’s a huge weight off my shoulders.
”The Trojans’ pitching wasn’t its sharpest, but it got the job done while the defense made a couple nice plays. Barrow, Gavyn Byrd and Jacob Cozart each threw two innings before Caleb Cozart threw one. They limited Metrolina to single runs in the first, fourth and sixth while scattering eight hits and just one walk. But they weren’t overpowering either, as the Warriors (15-9) were led by Blake Patterson and Wes Bowlin with two hits each, Tommy Miller with a double and an RBI and Jett Townson with a hit and two RBIs. Byrd got the win in relief while Metrolina starter Ben Poplin took the loss in five innings.
Wesleyan will host either Wake Christian or fourth-seeded Providence Day in the semifi nals Tuesday tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m.
“There have been years where we’ve won this game 2-1, 1-0 against a good arm — maybe an average team but a good arm,” Davis said. “So, you just kind of move on. It’s the playoffs, so you don’t really focus on all that stuff. You just say, ‘All right, guys, it’s the playoffs and we won the game. So, let’s focus on the next guy.’ We don’t spend a lot of time worry-ing about what we did ....“We’ll address it.
We’ve been hot lately. We’re playing really well. We had the big win against High Point Christian and we’ve had a lot of big wins against really good teams. This team is resilient and they tend to fight. They do have a tendency to play down at times like we did tonight. So, I’m pleased with how we’ve been playing, but I knew this was going to be a tough game tonight.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com@HPEmichael
