Varsity Baseball Dominates Epiphany School and Freedom Chrisitan

The Varsity Baseball team cruised to 4-0 after defeating The Epiphany School and Freedom Christian on March 16^th and 17^th. 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