Beddingfield, Patriots pick up win No. 1 in season marked by three-peat hopes
BY SAMUEL EVERS
Sports Writer
Thursday, March 7, 2019
Buried in an otherwise clean game on Thursday that started and finished in one hour, 42 minutes was one anxiety-inducing play for Faith Christian and first-year head coach Ronnie Beddingfield.
In the fifth inning of the first game of the Patriot Invitational hosted by FCS, with two outs and one on, opponent Freedom Christian had its best hitter in Hunter Johnson coming to the plate.
Playing it safe, Beddingfield called for the intentional walk. The next batter, first-pitch swinging, shot a deep line drive to right field, which sent Faith Christian’s Alex Crosby to a sprint, eventually hauling in an acrobatic catch to end the inning and preserve a one-run lead.
The Patriots (1-1) built on that small advantage and won, 3-0; after dropping the season-opener last Friday to Riverside, it was Beddingfield’s first victory as coach of the Patriots, and it was thanks in-part to that catch.
“I wasn’t going to let (Johnson) beat us. He hit two home runs here last year in this Invitational,” Beddingfield said. “He didn’t like it a whole lot. He turned around and said something to me. But Alex made a great play on that ball so it worked out.”
That jam aside, the Patriots played about as well as a team could in 50-degree weather in early March; pitcher Zach Warrick went six innings and earned the victory, scattering four hits and five walks while striking out four FCA batters.
“For my first time pitching this year, I thought I had my offspeed stuff pretty good but I didn’t have my (velocity) where I wanted it to be,” Warrick said. “But I felt pretty good.”
The three runs the Patriots pushed across were in line with Beddingfield’s small ball approach to game-calling. Leadoff hitter Hobart Brantley broke a scoreless tie in the third with a double to start the inning; he tagged up on a fly ball and stole home on a wild pitch.
In the fifth, three straight hits led to another run, though Robert Turner’s single to start the inning was doomed by a suicide squeeze play gone wrong. FCS tacked on another in the sixth after two outs to start the inning with a double, an infield hit and a single by No. 8 hitter Noah Calhoun producing an insurance run.
Anyone planning to attend home games for the Patriots this year can expect more of that approach.
“I’m a small ball kind of coach. I like to bunt a lot,” Beddingfield said. “We had a squeeze today that didn’t work for us, but they’re not going to work every time. The main thing is, the kids just kept putting the ball in play somewhere.”
Brantley was the main catalyst, reaching base in all three at-bats with a walk, two doubles and two runs scored.
With a three-run lead heading into the final frame, Garrett Pannell came in to close the game, retiring FCA in order with a ground ball, a pop-up and a fly ball to wrap up the first win of a season the Patriots’ hope ends in a third-straight NCISAA 2-A state title.
“That’s our goal,” Warrick said. “That’s what it’s been the past three years. It’s no different this year.”
BY SAMUEL EVERS
Sports Writer
Thursday, March 7, 2019
Buried in an otherwise clean game on Thursday that started and finished in one hour, 42 minutes was one anxiety-inducing play for Faith Christian and first-year head coach Ronnie Beddingfield.
In the fifth inning of the first game of the Patriot Invitational hosted by FCS, with two outs and one on, opponent Freedom Christian had its best hitter in Hunter Johnson coming to the plate.
Playing it safe, Beddingfield called for the intentional walk. The next batter, first-pitch swinging, shot a deep line drive to right field, which sent Faith Christian’s Alex Crosby to a sprint, eventually hauling in an acrobatic catch to end the inning and preserve a one-run lead.
The Patriots (1-1) built on that small advantage and won, 3-0; after dropping the season-opener last Friday to Riverside, it was Beddingfield’s first victory as coach of the Patriots, and it was thanks in-part to that catch.
“I wasn’t going to let (Johnson) beat us. He hit two home runs here last year in this Invitational,” Beddingfield said. “He didn’t like it a whole lot. He turned around and said something to me. But Alex made a great play on that ball so it worked out.”
That jam aside, the Patriots played about as well as a team could in 50-degree weather in early March; pitcher Zach Warrick went six innings and earned the victory, scattering four hits and five walks while striking out four FCA batters.
“For my first time pitching this year, I thought I had my offspeed stuff pretty good but I didn’t have my (velocity) where I wanted it to be,” Warrick said. “But I felt pretty good.”
The three runs the Patriots pushed across were in line with Beddingfield’s small ball approach to game-calling. Leadoff hitter Hobart Brantley broke a scoreless tie in the third with a double to start the inning; he tagged up on a fly ball and stole home on a wild pitch.
In the fifth, three straight hits led to another run, though Robert Turner’s single to start the inning was doomed by a suicide squeeze play gone wrong. FCS tacked on another in the sixth after two outs to start the inning with a double, an infield hit and a single by No. 8 hitter Noah Calhoun producing an insurance run.
Anyone planning to attend home games for the Patriots this year can expect more of that approach.
“I’m a small ball kind of coach. I like to bunt a lot,” Beddingfield said. “We had a squeeze today that didn’t work for us, but they’re not going to work every time. The main thing is, the kids just kept putting the ball in play somewhere.”
Brantley was the main catalyst, reaching base in all three at-bats with a walk, two doubles and two runs scored.
With a three-run lead heading into the final frame, Garrett Pannell came in to close the game, retiring FCA in order with a ground ball, a pop-up and a fly ball to wrap up the first win of a season the Patriots’ hope ends in a third-straight NCISAA 2-A state title.
“That’s our goal,” Warrick said. “That’s what it’s been the past three years. It’s no different this year.”
