Cougars crush crosstown rival
Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer Apr 20, 2021 Updated 5 hrs ago
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian put its foot down and never let up.
The Cougars scored in every inning, played solid defense and, behind a two-hit performance by pitcher Sam Sapp, raced past crosstown rival Westchester Country Day 11-0 in five innings Monday in PTAC baseball at Westchester.
“It is good to have all those things starting to come together,” HPCA coach Corey Gesell said. “But you never want to be totally satisfied. We want to keep working because other teams are working hard as well. So, we’ve got to keep getting better, even though we played a good game today.”
Eli Crump went 3 for 4 with a double, a home run and four RBIs while Noah Hill went 2 for 2 with two home runs and three RBIs to lead the Cougars (13-4 overall, 6-0 PTAC), who lead the conference by one game over Calvary Day and are ranked No. 2 among NCISAA 3A teams by MaxPreps.
Sam Beck added two hits, including a double, and an RBI. Bryson King doubled, while Sapp and Mitch Adams each had a hit and an RBI as HPCA scored twice in each of the first two innings, once in each of the next two innings and broke it open with five runs in the fifth.
“I feel like we played pretty well,” said Crump, a senior outfielder/pitcher. “Our pitching came off and started off well. We hit the ball hard the whole game, and we put up runs every inning. We had no errors on defense. And we just came out to win, honestly.
“It feels good because I know our team can do it. Sometimes we don’t come out as strong, but when we do come out strong we see that we can go far in the playoffs and make a run. We have a good team and we just have to play hard.”
Hill crushed a two-run home run to right-center field in the first, and Crump roped a two-run double off the left-field wall in the second to give the Cougars a 4-0 lead. A two-base error set up a fielder’s choice RBI by Sapp in the third, and Crump followed with a solo home run in the fourth to extend the lead to 6-0.
HPCA then tallied six hits — including a home run by Hill to lead off, an RBI double by Beck later in the inning and run-scoring singles by Crump and Adams — in sending nine batters to the plate and convincingly finishing off the victory with a 1-2-3 bottom half.
“We never want to give up,” Crump said. “Just keep putting runs on until the game’s over — never give up. It means a lot, but we just have to stay hungry and stay ready for the next game. We have two more conference games this week, including a big game tomorrow.”
Tate Vogler and Clay Rosser each had a hit for the Wildcats (4-4, 3-2), who never really got anything going offensively — only moving one runner into scoring position — and couldn’t contain the Cougars on defense. That combination quickly put them in a hole that got deeper and deeper as the game went on.
“Let’s give the credit to High Point Christian,” Westchester coach Devin McLemore said. “They came ready to go. They have their style of play, they stuck with it, and they didn’t waver from that. Any time you’re giving up runs every single inning, it’s hard.
“I just thought they came out with a ton of energy, a ton of confidence and we lacked both of those. … I tell my guys all the time that I’m fluent in body language. And I just thought our body language once they had the lead just showed that we didn’t have a lot of fight today.”
The upside, McLemore added, is that the Wildcats have the opportunity to brush off their performance with a more solid showing today against Greensboro Day.
“I think that’s the best thing that could happen,” he said. “You don’t want to dwell on these kinds of losses too long. You want to feel them, but you don’t want to dwell on them. So, tomorrow is another opportunity to play a game, and I just want to see these guys have a little more fight.”
Josh Hammond, an eighth-grader who has shown flashes of brilliance this season, took the loss — striking out three in three innings — for Westchester before Grayson Chapman pitched the final two innings. Sapp struck out six while walking one in 4 1/3 innings for HPCA before King notched the final two outs.
HPCA will host second-place Calvary today at Oak View Baptist Church before traveling to Winston-Salem on Friday. The Wildcats will welcome Greensboro Day before also visiting Greensboro on Friday.
mlindsay@hpenews.com | 336-888-3526 | @HPEmichael
Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer Apr 20, 2021 Updated 5 hrs ago
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian put its foot down and never let up.
The Cougars scored in every inning, played solid defense and, behind a two-hit performance by pitcher Sam Sapp, raced past crosstown rival Westchester Country Day 11-0 in five innings Monday in PTAC baseball at Westchester.
“It is good to have all those things starting to come together,” HPCA coach Corey Gesell said. “But you never want to be totally satisfied. We want to keep working because other teams are working hard as well. So, we’ve got to keep getting better, even though we played a good game today.”
Eli Crump went 3 for 4 with a double, a home run and four RBIs while Noah Hill went 2 for 2 with two home runs and three RBIs to lead the Cougars (13-4 overall, 6-0 PTAC), who lead the conference by one game over Calvary Day and are ranked No. 2 among NCISAA 3A teams by MaxPreps.
Sam Beck added two hits, including a double, and an RBI. Bryson King doubled, while Sapp and Mitch Adams each had a hit and an RBI as HPCA scored twice in each of the first two innings, once in each of the next two innings and broke it open with five runs in the fifth.
“I feel like we played pretty well,” said Crump, a senior outfielder/pitcher. “Our pitching came off and started off well. We hit the ball hard the whole game, and we put up runs every inning. We had no errors on defense. And we just came out to win, honestly.
“It feels good because I know our team can do it. Sometimes we don’t come out as strong, but when we do come out strong we see that we can go far in the playoffs and make a run. We have a good team and we just have to play hard.”
Hill crushed a two-run home run to right-center field in the first, and Crump roped a two-run double off the left-field wall in the second to give the Cougars a 4-0 lead. A two-base error set up a fielder’s choice RBI by Sapp in the third, and Crump followed with a solo home run in the fourth to extend the lead to 6-0.
HPCA then tallied six hits — including a home run by Hill to lead off, an RBI double by Beck later in the inning and run-scoring singles by Crump and Adams — in sending nine batters to the plate and convincingly finishing off the victory with a 1-2-3 bottom half.
“We never want to give up,” Crump said. “Just keep putting runs on until the game’s over — never give up. It means a lot, but we just have to stay hungry and stay ready for the next game. We have two more conference games this week, including a big game tomorrow.”
Tate Vogler and Clay Rosser each had a hit for the Wildcats (4-4, 3-2), who never really got anything going offensively — only moving one runner into scoring position — and couldn’t contain the Cougars on defense. That combination quickly put them in a hole that got deeper and deeper as the game went on.
“Let’s give the credit to High Point Christian,” Westchester coach Devin McLemore said. “They came ready to go. They have their style of play, they stuck with it, and they didn’t waver from that. Any time you’re giving up runs every single inning, it’s hard.
“I just thought they came out with a ton of energy, a ton of confidence and we lacked both of those. … I tell my guys all the time that I’m fluent in body language. And I just thought our body language once they had the lead just showed that we didn’t have a lot of fight today.”
The upside, McLemore added, is that the Wildcats have the opportunity to brush off their performance with a more solid showing today against Greensboro Day.
“I think that’s the best thing that could happen,” he said. “You don’t want to dwell on these kinds of losses too long. You want to feel them, but you don’t want to dwell on them. So, tomorrow is another opportunity to play a game, and I just want to see these guys have a little more fight.”
Josh Hammond, an eighth-grader who has shown flashes of brilliance this season, took the loss — striking out three in three innings — for Westchester before Grayson Chapman pitched the final two innings. Sapp struck out six while walking one in 4 1/3 innings for HPCA before King notched the final two outs.
HPCA will host second-place Calvary today at Oak View Baptist Church before traveling to Winston-Salem on Friday. The Wildcats will welcome Greensboro Day before also visiting Greensboro on Friday.
mlindsay@hpenews.com | 336-888-3526 | @HPEmichael
