By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
CATAWBA COUNTY BASEBALL WINS
A look, entering this season, at the baseball records of the seven Catawba County schools over the previous 10 seasons:
School Record Pct.
Bunker Hill 193-82 .701
Hickory 170-106 .615
Foard 130-125 .509
Maiden 121-121 .500
St. Stephens 103-129 .443
Bandys 93-139 .400
Newton-Con. 63-180 .259
SOURCE: HobbsDailyReport.com research and files.
CATAWBA – Armed with arms, a growing confidence and a new outlook on playing together, Bandys High continued its unbeaten baseball start on Friday night by beating visiting Newton-Conover 7-1.
BANDYS 7
NEWTON-CON. 1
The Trojans (4-0, 2-0) — off to their best start since winning their first four games in 2012 – rode their pitching and a six-run fifth inning to a win that left them tied for first place in the South Fork 2A with unbeaten Lincolnton (4-0) and North Lincoln (3-1).
Bandys plays at Lincolnton on Tuesday night.
Starting pitcher T.J. Rasar and reliever Elijah Carr, both right-handers, combined to one-hit the Red Devils (0-4, 0-2), and they combined for 15 strikeouts (six and nine, respectively).
Carr gained the win, going four innings and closing the game with two swinging strikeouts with a Red Devils runner on third base.
Holt Allison’s infield single in the second inning was the only Newton-Conover hit while Travis Russell, No. 8 hitter Cy Spencer and No. 9 hitter Laz Maxwell led Bandys with two hits each (the Trojans had 10).
Bandys — averaging five runs in victories over Fred T. Foard, Bunker Hill and Maiden to start the season — needed a big inning to beat the Red Devils for the third straight time.
Head coach Frank Porter talked to his Trojans before they hit in the bottom of the fifth inning.
coachquotes Bandys head coach Frank Porter talks about his team and its victory on Friday night over Newton-Conover./VIDEO BY MYRA HOBBS for HOBBSDAILYREPORT.COM
“I was proud we decided this is going to be our inning,” Porter said. “We were swinging the bats and it’s easier (to score) when that happens… (But) we’ve gotta hit the ball more than we did tonight.”
The Trojans had six hits in the fifth inning but the go-ahead at-bat actually began with one of the Red Devils’ five errors.
Ivan Huffman reached on an throwing error by first baseman Connor Hice, who was trying to make a toss to pitcher Bailey Sims for an out. Huffman then advanced on a passed ball.
There were runners at first and third after Russell’s infield single and at second and third when a ground ball by Andrew Patrick led to a force out at second.
Carr, batting for Raser, then blooped a single that dropped in front of left fielder Allen Wilfong and that scored a run for a 2-1 lead.
Mac Beam’s single drove in a run and, with two outs, Alex Borst singled up the middle to score a run and another scored on an error on the same play by center fielder Luke Canrobert.
Up by four runs, the Trojans extended the lead on an RBI single to left by Spencer and a run-scoring single by Maxwell.
The Red Devils weren’t able to do much against Carr. He walked a batter in the fourth inning with one out before striking out two, and he struck out the side in the fifth.
In the sixth inning, Carr struck out two and got a flyball out. The runner left on third as the game ended got there via a fielder’s choice, a throwing error by Maxwell and a passed ball.
Strong pitching, trying to get five or six runs and playing good defense are what the Trojans will need to focus on all season, Porter said.
“One hit (allowed)? 15 strikeouts?” Porter asked. “That’s how we’re going to win games – defense and pitching. We played good defense (Friday) and we pounded the strike zone.”
Porter returns four key senior pitchers – Patrick, Borst, Raser and Carr – and has a staff of six (up to eight if needed) to send to the mound. He’s had better arms but never so many quality arms on one staff, he said.
“That’s how blessed we are,” Porter said. “Those guys have a ton of confidence and trust their teammates to make plays behind them.”
Carr said there’s already a better since of togetherness than last season, when the Trojans went 7-16 (this senior class came into the season 14-52).
“We’re playing very well as a team,” he said. “We’re pretty close … real close. At the beginning of the year, we got together (to talk). We’re a team of seniors that has grown up together.”
The Trojans have set goals, Porter said, and they are not small ones – win the South Fork 2A, win the South Fork 2A tournament and win the state 2A championship.
“We’re 100 percent better than in the past three years,” Porter said of his players’ levels of maturity. “Player to player, they’re tighter than in the past…
“(They know) they (opponents) are not going to give you runs, and with our pitching we’ll be able to stay in games.”
Notes: Newton-Conover had beaten Bandys in three straight games before the Trojans started their current series win streak, and prior to that Bandys had won 14 straight in the series … Porter, in his ninth season as Trojans head coach, has 83 victories …Unofficially, Friday night’s game was the 303rd for Red Devils head coach Corey Nunley (14th season, has 67 career wins)… Bandys’ high for wins since the 1997 season is 19 in 2005 and 2013… The Red Devils have had 16 straight losing seasons since going 13-9 in 2001.