Roupp limits Wildcats to one hit
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Westchester Country Day faced a tough pitcher in a playoff-type game and took away what it hopes will be a valuable lesson heading into the final week of the regular season.
The Wildcats allowed the first four runs of the game and, limited by an outstanding performance by Landen Roupp, struggled at the plate in falling 4-1 against Faith Christian in a meeting of NCISAA 2A baseball powers Friday at Westchester’s Conner Field.
“We missed a couple key opportunities,” Westchester coach Mickey Williard said. “Obviously, they were few and far between with Roupp on the mound. He’s really, really good. And we knew that going in — that we would have to capitalize. The couple spots we had we just let them slip through our fingers.”
Lucas Compton had a double to lead off the second inning for the lone hit of the gamefor the Wildcats (9-9), who are in a tight race among a handful of one-loss teams atop the Triad Athletic Conference with three games to go. Seth Polen added an RBI groundout.
Westchester scored its lone run in the fifth when Dalton Ward reached base with one out on a dropped third strike and erroneous throw that hit him in the back, then moved to third on a wild pickoff throw and scored on Polen’s infi eld grounder. That was pretty much it for the Wildcats as their chances were limited.
Roupp, a senior right-hander, pitched a very solid game, allowing just one hit while walking none, for the Patriots (16-1) of the Coastal Independent Conference. He struck out four of the first five batters he faced and eight of the first 12.
“His slider is the reason he’s going to UNCW,” Williard said. “It’s very good — it’s tight — and he throws his fastball off of his breaking ball, which not a lot of guys do. So, if you get caught in between and don’t hold on to an approach, then he can really get you where you’re late on a fastball and early on a breaking ball. And it’s tough to hit like that.”
Faith Christian took the lead with one run in the third on backto- back singles to start the inning and a oneout double. It extended its lead to 4-0 in the fifth with back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, a double steal to move the runners, a two-run single with one out and a one-run single with two outs.
Ben Lewis went 3 for 4 with a double, a triple and an RBI for the Patriots, while Braxton Varnell had a hit and two RBIs. Alec Hunter (3-2) took the loss for Westchester, allowing four runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out four in 4 2/3 innings. Ward pitched pretty well in 2 1/3 innings of relief.
The Wildcats return to TAC play Monday at home against Calvary Day. “Alec didn’t particularly have his best stuff and, on top of that, our first-pitch strike percentage wasn’t where it needed to be,” Williard said. “So, we had to get into a lot of fastball-predictable counts. And when you look at it, that’s when they did their damage. They didn’t hit a lot of balls hard, but they could guess on what’s coming and put the ball in play.
“But it’s great to have them down here. They’re absolutelya class organization. Greg Clifton does a phenomenal job with them year-in and yearout. We love to compete against those guys. Last year we got the best of them, but this year they got the best of us. All that we can hope is that we can come back tomorrow and improve on the things we slipped up on today and hopefully see them down the road with a little bit better effort.”
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Westchester Country Day faced a tough pitcher in a playoff-type game and took away what it hopes will be a valuable lesson heading into the final week of the regular season.
The Wildcats allowed the first four runs of the game and, limited by an outstanding performance by Landen Roupp, struggled at the plate in falling 4-1 against Faith Christian in a meeting of NCISAA 2A baseball powers Friday at Westchester’s Conner Field.
“We missed a couple key opportunities,” Westchester coach Mickey Williard said. “Obviously, they were few and far between with Roupp on the mound. He’s really, really good. And we knew that going in — that we would have to capitalize. The couple spots we had we just let them slip through our fingers.”
Lucas Compton had a double to lead off the second inning for the lone hit of the gamefor the Wildcats (9-9), who are in a tight race among a handful of one-loss teams atop the Triad Athletic Conference with three games to go. Seth Polen added an RBI groundout.
Westchester scored its lone run in the fifth when Dalton Ward reached base with one out on a dropped third strike and erroneous throw that hit him in the back, then moved to third on a wild pickoff throw and scored on Polen’s infi eld grounder. That was pretty much it for the Wildcats as their chances were limited.
Roupp, a senior right-hander, pitched a very solid game, allowing just one hit while walking none, for the Patriots (16-1) of the Coastal Independent Conference. He struck out four of the first five batters he faced and eight of the first 12.
“His slider is the reason he’s going to UNCW,” Williard said. “It’s very good — it’s tight — and he throws his fastball off of his breaking ball, which not a lot of guys do. So, if you get caught in between and don’t hold on to an approach, then he can really get you where you’re late on a fastball and early on a breaking ball. And it’s tough to hit like that.”
Faith Christian took the lead with one run in the third on backto- back singles to start the inning and a oneout double. It extended its lead to 4-0 in the fifth with back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, a double steal to move the runners, a two-run single with one out and a one-run single with two outs.
Ben Lewis went 3 for 4 with a double, a triple and an RBI for the Patriots, while Braxton Varnell had a hit and two RBIs. Alec Hunter (3-2) took the loss for Westchester, allowing four runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out four in 4 2/3 innings. Ward pitched pretty well in 2 1/3 innings of relief.
The Wildcats return to TAC play Monday at home against Calvary Day. “Alec didn’t particularly have his best stuff and, on top of that, our first-pitch strike percentage wasn’t where it needed to be,” Williard said. “So, we had to get into a lot of fastball-predictable counts. And when you look at it, that’s when they did their damage. They didn’t hit a lot of balls hard, but they could guess on what’s coming and put the ball in play.
“But it’s great to have them down here. They’re absolutelya class organization. Greg Clifton does a phenomenal job with them year-in and yearout. We love to compete against those guys. Last year we got the best of them, but this year they got the best of us. All that we can hope is that we can come back tomorrow and improve on the things we slipped up on today and hopefully see them down the road with a little bit better effort.”
