The Varsity Baseball team cruised
to 4-0 after defeating The Epiphany School and Freedom Christian on March 16th
and 17th. The Crusaders defeated the Epiphany Falcons by a score of
10-5. Mike Smith was the starting pitcher for the Crusaders for the first time
since having ACL surgery in the fall of 2014. Smith pitched three innings,
giving up three runs. The game was plagued by highly questionable calls,
especially during the three innings Smith on was on the mound. Both teams were
frustrated with the umpires throughout the game. The questionable decisions by
the umpires led to the Crusader pitching staff giving up more runs than they
would have under normal circumstances, but Epiphany did have a solid day at the
plate.
Luckily, HCA’s bats were hot for
the majority of the game. Smith got the Crusaders started by drawing a walk
with two outs in the top of the first.
Joseph Phaneuf then hit a double to right field, driving in Davis Jones,
who was pinch running for Smith. Tristan Crumpler then came in to pinch run for
Phaneuf and scored on a single from Nathan Casteen to give the Crusaders a 2-0
lead. After a scoreless bottom of the first for the Falcons, Jake Register came
to bat and reached first base on an error. Register later stole second base.
Chance Bryant stepped to the plate next and hit a RBI single down the third
base line, making the score 3-0. Spencer
Cooke drew a walk with one out to advance to first and move Chance Bryant over
to second base. Luke Quinn then hit a double, driving in Bryant. With Quinn on
second and Cooke on third, Smith cleared the bases with a double. HCA headed
into the bottom of the second inning with a 6-0 lead.
With the bases loaded and no outs
in the bottom of the fourth inning, Register came in to pitch in relief for
Smith. Epiphany scored three runs, cutting the Crusader lead in half. HCA
bounced back with two runs in the top of the fifth after Register singled to
start inning. Register stole second before Epiphany recorded the first out of
the inning. Cooke singled to drive in Register. Cooke then stole second before
the second out of the inning. Luke Quinn drew a walk and Cooke stole third
base. With runners on the corners, Smith singled to bring in Cooke and make the
score 8-3. After struggling in the bottom of the fifth, Register was replaced
by Nathan Casteen on the mound. The
Falcons scored twice in the inning to cut the lead to 8-5. The Crusaders failed
to get anything started in the top of the sixth, but scored two runs in the
seventh. Jones drew a walk and stole second with one out. Cooke then hit a
double, driving in Jones. Quinn came to bat and singled, bringing Cooke into
score. The Crusaders shut down Epiphany in the bottom of the seventh to end the
game and win 10-5.
After defeating Epiphany, the
Crusaders traveled to JP Riddle Stadium to face Freedom. HCA recently opened
the season with a 10-1 victory over the Patriots. The green and gold won the
rematch by a score of 12-4. Cooke started the game off with a single and then
stole second base. Cooke later advanced to third on the play that resulted in
the first out of the game. An infield single from Mike Smith brought Cooke into
score, making it a 1-0 game.
Ben Prestage was the starting
pitcher for the Crusaders and threw a complete game. Prestage gave up four
runs, three of them coming in the bottom of the first. Trailing 3-1, HCA
started the second frame off with a Davis Jone’s walk. Register came to bat and
was hit by a pitch. Justin Smith then drew a walk, loading the bases with no
outs. Cooke stepped to the plate and put the ball in play, and the Patriots got
the force out at second base. Jones and
Register still scored on the play to tie the game. With two outs, Smith hit a
double and Cooke came around to score, giving HCA a 4-3 lead. Freedom later
tied the game in the third inning.
With the game tied, Cooke started
the top of the fourth inning with a single, advancing to second on a wild
pitch. Quinn then got a base hit, moving Cooke to third base. With Quinn on
second and Cooke on third with one out, Phaneuf hit a double, bringing in both
base runners to make the score 6-4. Phaneuf later scored on a single from
Casteen. In the fifth inning, Evan Hardison entered the game for Justin Smith.
Hardison singled to right field with one out. Cooke then doubled, moving
Hardison to third base. Hardison eventually scored to make the score 8-4. With
one out in the sixth inning, Casteen hit a 352 foot home run down the left
field line. In the seventh inning, Luke Quinn hit a double, driving in Register
and Cooke. With the score 11-4, Mike Smith hit another double, and Quinn
scored. Andrew Miller came in to run for Smith at second base. Tristan Crumpler
and Jordan Musslewhite rounded out the top of the seventh with their first at
bats of the season. Prestage then shut down the Patriots once again in the
inning’s bottom half, ending the game.
HCA was scheduled
to play Clinton High School on Thursday, March 19, but the game was postponed
due to inclement weather. To stay up to date on when the game will be played,
follow @hca_baseball on Twitter and visit www.hcaathletics.com. A full wrap-up of the Crusaders’ three games
this week (March 23-27) will be posted this coming weekend.
STATISTICS (HCA @ Epiphany)
BATTING
|
AB
|
R
|
HITS
|
RBI
|
SB
|
BB
|
S. Cooke
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
L. Quinn
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
M. Smith
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
J. Phaneuf
|
5
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
N. Casteen
|
4
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
B. Prestage
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
J. Register
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
J. Smith
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
C. Bryant
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
E. Hardison
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
D. Jones
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
TOTALS
|
34
|
10
|
13
|
9
|
5
|
1
|
PITCHING
|
IP
|
HITS
|
ER
|
BB
|
SO
|
M. Smith
(W, 1-0)
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
J. Register (0-0)
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
1
|
N. Casteen (0-0)
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
STATISTICS
(HCA @ Freedom Christian)
BATTING
|
AB
|
R
|
HITS
|
RBI
|
SB
|
BB
|
S. Cooke
|
4
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
L. Quinn
|
5
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
M. Smith
|
5
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
J. Phaneuf
|
4
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
N. Casteen
|
4
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
B. Prestage
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
D. Jones
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
J. Register
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
J. Smith
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
E. Hardison
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
T. Crumpler
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
J. Musslewhite
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
TOTALS
|
37
|
12
|
13
|
10
|
2
|
3
|
PITCHING
|
IP
|
HITS
|
RUNS
|
ER
|
BB
|
SO
|
B. Prestage
|
7
|
5
|
4
|
0
|
2
|
5
|