HPCA rallies past Westchester
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Westchester Country Day left the door open the tiniest sliver, and it was just enough for High Point Christian to slip through.
The Cougars scored the final six runs of the game — including four in the seventh — to rally past the Wildcats 10-9 in a meeting of nonconference rivals and state powers Tuesday at Oak View Baptist Church.
“That’s what you have to do to go far in the playoffs,” HPCA coach Corey Gesell said. “You’re playing good teams, and sometimes they’ll get up on you and you can’t quit. So, I told our guys, ‘The overall lesson for today is that you’ve got to play 21 outs. You can’t play 18 or 20 — you’ve got to play 21 outs.’ So I was proud of them for having a great seventh inning.”
Down to their last out and trailing by two, the Cougars (22- 1), one of the top teams in the NCISAA 3A, tied it on a bases-loaded single to right-center field by Luke Gesell and, two batters later, won it on a bases-loaded single to right field by Heath Hopkins after trailin 9-6 heading to their final atbat.
“We were able to do a better job with our pitch selection in the zone,” Hopkinssaid of the comeback. “We made them pitch to us, and we got a few walks, a couple slaps over the infielders and got some runners on base.… Really, I was just thinking, ‘Just be calm and put the ball in play.’ I had confidence in myself. I was ecstatic — it was awesome.”
Hopkins finished 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI for HPCA, which trailed 9-4 through the top of the fourth but scored twice in the bottom half to pull within 9-6.
Timmy Fischvogt went 2 for 2 with a home run, a double and two RBIs, while Dylan Wilkinson went 2 for 3 with two doubles and four RBIs.
Wilkinson picked up the win in relief, pitching the final four innings. Will Shields took the loss, also in relief, in two innings. Chase Pyrtle went 3 for 4 at the plate for Westchester (17-5), one of the top 2A teams, while Mac Starbuck had two hits and an RBI, John Andrews had two hits, and Shields homered.
But as well as the Wildcats, who scored three runs in the first and six runs in the fourth, played at times to build sizable leads, they just couldn’t hold off the Cougars in key spots — allowing untimely walks to put runners on and inopportune hits to score them.
“I thought we were the better team, but we didn’t execute down the stretch,”Westchester coach Mickey Williard said. “It’s the first time all year that we’ve given up a lead. The games we lost we got down, clawed back but couldn’t quite catch up. So, it hadn’t happened, and I don’t think it’s going to happen again. And I hate we won’t see these guys again.
“It’s tough because nobody can see in the last inning (because of the fading light), and that’s the time to really get ahead with strikes. And those close pitches we had been getting when we were working ahead we weren’t getting anymore. We tell our pitchers all the time: If you work ahead, you’ll get calls; if you work from behind, you might not. And walks kill you — they always score.”
HPCA, which is tied with Wesleyan Christian atop the PACIS 2A/3A, visits West Stokes on Thursday, while the Wildcats, who lead the TAC 1A/2A heading into the final week of the regular season, host Asheville Christian on Friday.
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Westchester Country Day left the door open the tiniest sliver, and it was just enough for High Point Christian to slip through.
The Cougars scored the final six runs of the game — including four in the seventh — to rally past the Wildcats 10-9 in a meeting of nonconference rivals and state powers Tuesday at Oak View Baptist Church.
“That’s what you have to do to go far in the playoffs,” HPCA coach Corey Gesell said. “You’re playing good teams, and sometimes they’ll get up on you and you can’t quit. So, I told our guys, ‘The overall lesson for today is that you’ve got to play 21 outs. You can’t play 18 or 20 — you’ve got to play 21 outs.’ So I was proud of them for having a great seventh inning.”
Down to their last out and trailing by two, the Cougars (22- 1), one of the top teams in the NCISAA 3A, tied it on a bases-loaded single to right-center field by Luke Gesell and, two batters later, won it on a bases-loaded single to right field by Heath Hopkins after trailin 9-6 heading to their final atbat.
“We were able to do a better job with our pitch selection in the zone,” Hopkinssaid of the comeback. “We made them pitch to us, and we got a few walks, a couple slaps over the infielders and got some runners on base.… Really, I was just thinking, ‘Just be calm and put the ball in play.’ I had confidence in myself. I was ecstatic — it was awesome.”
Hopkins finished 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI for HPCA, which trailed 9-4 through the top of the fourth but scored twice in the bottom half to pull within 9-6.
Timmy Fischvogt went 2 for 2 with a home run, a double and two RBIs, while Dylan Wilkinson went 2 for 3 with two doubles and four RBIs.
Wilkinson picked up the win in relief, pitching the final four innings. Will Shields took the loss, also in relief, in two innings. Chase Pyrtle went 3 for 4 at the plate for Westchester (17-5), one of the top 2A teams, while Mac Starbuck had two hits and an RBI, John Andrews had two hits, and Shields homered.
But as well as the Wildcats, who scored three runs in the first and six runs in the fourth, played at times to build sizable leads, they just couldn’t hold off the Cougars in key spots — allowing untimely walks to put runners on and inopportune hits to score them.
“I thought we were the better team, but we didn’t execute down the stretch,”Westchester coach Mickey Williard said. “It’s the first time all year that we’ve given up a lead. The games we lost we got down, clawed back but couldn’t quite catch up. So, it hadn’t happened, and I don’t think it’s going to happen again. And I hate we won’t see these guys again.
“It’s tough because nobody can see in the last inning (because of the fading light), and that’s the time to really get ahead with strikes. And those close pitches we had been getting when we were working ahead we weren’t getting anymore. We tell our pitchers all the time: If you work ahead, you’ll get calls; if you work from behind, you might not. And walks kill you — they always score.”
HPCA, which is tied with Wesleyan Christian atop the PACIS 2A/3A, visits West Stokes on Thursday, while the Wildcats, who lead the TAC 1A/2A heading into the final week of the regular season, host Asheville Christian on Friday.
