HIGH POINT – High Point Christian began its season on a strong note.
The Cougars pulled away with nine runs in their final two at-bats and cruised behind solid starting pitching from Eli Crump to beat Cannon School 10-0 in five innings Monday afternoon in nonconference baseball at Oak View Baptist Church.
“We did some good things,” HPCA coach Corey Gesell said. “We threw strikes, and we caught ground balls and made good plays. We’re just trying to get in a routine, getting back on the field – which everybody’s trying to do. But it was a good first day for us.”
Carter Bass had a double and two RBIs while Bryson King also had a hit and two RBIs to lead the Cougars (1-0), the reigning NCISAA 3A state champions. Drake Carrick, Ryan Coggin and Sam Sapp each added a hit and an RBI as the offense really came alive in the third and fourth.
“We played pretty well for the first game,” said Bass, a junior shortstop. “Our defense was good, Eli threw the ball well to get the game going, and the hits came along with it.”
Crump, a junior left-handed pitcher, threw four very strong innings. He was perfect through 2 1-3 innings before allowing a walk and had a no-hitter going through 3 2-3 before giving up his lone hit against Cannon (3-1). Derek Brummet then pitched a one-hit fifth.
“He came out throwing three pitches for strikes,” Gesell said. “When you can do that, you can mix things up. He kept their hitters off-balance and he looked sharp today.”
HPCA took the lead with a run in the first, as Carrick singled and eventually scored on a one-out sacrifice fly by Carson Yates. It added four runs in the third and five in the fourth – combining to send 19 batters to the plate over the two innings.
King had a two-run single to key the fourth and Bass had a two-run double off the fence in left to highlight the fifth.
“It felt good, because when you play with a lead you don’t have to stress so much,” Bass said. “You can just play relaxed. We have some freshmen on the team and it’s their first time playing. So for them to play with a big lead was a big help.”
The Cougars, returning a solid core group from their state championship team while adding a few new, younger players, will play again Thursday against Grace Christian at Bond Park Field 5 in Cary.
“I expect us to work hard at practice and continue to get better,” Gesell said. “We don’t talk much about anything else but that. Just keep working and we’ll see how good we can be later on.”
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