Warriors beat Crest for top 4A seed
GASTONIA - Half the team went to the prom the night before, which meant half the team was running on fumes.
None of that seemed to bother East Gaston on Saturday in a 9-2 win over Crest.
The offense cranked out 11 hits, A.J. Bailey pitched a complete-game gem and the defense played an error-free game as the Warriors earned the Big South 3A/4A Conference's top 4A playoff seed.
"A bunch of people came out here a little tired, but we knew it was a big game," senior third baseman Ben Merritt said.
Merritt slept only three hours Saturday morning before going to work from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The players were to report to East Gaston at 5:30 before bussing to Ashbrook for a game scheduled specifically to break a tie for playoff seedings.
Once they arrived, adrenaline kicked in. The players knew full well the stakes: the winner would receive home field advantage for the first three rounds of the playoffs.
After batting 3-for-4 with a two-run double on Saturday, Merritt might consider a short night's rest before Friday's playoff opener.
He had plenty of help. Jordan Graham went 2-for-3 with a double and three runs while Trey Deason, Jason Borjas, D.J. Brown, Ricky Martin, Patrick Armstrong and Justin Ottinger added one hit each.
"We came out and swung the bats," Merritt said. "Nobody took the prom last night as an excuse."
Bailey, a right-hander, scattered six hits, struck out nine batters and walked five, upping his record to 5-3. Bailey allowed just one hit through the first three innings and didn't surrender a run until Jacob Tisdale's leadoff homer in the fourth made the score 4-1.
Bailey finished strong, too, by retiring six of his last seven batters, extinguishing Crest's hopes of a rally.
"I told him in the locker room before we left, ‘We need four good innings because we have Jay (Puckett),'" East Gaston coach Randy Sellers said. "The need never rose to use Jay tonight."
That means the East Gaston (15-8) pitching staff will be rested as it opens the playoffs Friday against a yet-to-be-announced wild-card opponent.
Crest (14-8) will also start at home but would likely travel in the second round and beyond. Chargers coach Steven Hodge is more concerned with the way his team is playing now.
After having won its previous six games, Crest will take a three-game losing streak into the postseason. The Chargers have scored just three runs during that stretch.
"We didn't hit it tonight," Hodge said. "We're not hitting the ball very well right now and that's not what you want going into the playoffs."
Crest starter Kyle Nanney (4-1) walked three of his first four batters and East Gaston laid down two bunts in the first inning for a 4-0 lead. The Chargers pulled to within 4-2 on Caleb Clark's RBI single up the middle in the fifth. But Deason's two-run double in the fifth gave the Warriors a 6-2 lead and Crest never got closer.
C 000 110 0 - 2 6 2
EG 400 032 x - 9 11 0
W - Bailey (5-3). L - Nanney (4-1). HR - Crest, Tisdale.
You can reach Phillip Gardner at 704-869-1843.
