Carson baseball 10, West Rowan 2

By Mike London

mlondon@salisburypost.com

MOUNT ULLA — A stiff cross-wind knocked down potential homers by West Rowan's Taylor Garczynski and Jon Crucitti, with both battered baseballs ending up in the glove of fast Carson center fielder Zack Grkman.

"You just know if it's hit near Grk it's an out," winning pitcher Josh Martin said.

West didn't have much luck or much defense, and Carson beat the Falcons 10-2 for an NPC victory Tuesday. Still, it wasn't as breezy as it sounds for the Cougars (6-1, 2-1) as they bounced back from a loss at unbeaten East Rowan on Friday.

West (2-5, 1-2) trailed 5-2 in the sixth and had the bases loaded with Crucitti at the plate when Carson lefty Jesse Park recorded the biggest out. Crucitti was called out on a 2-2 fastball that appeared well off the outside corner when it found the mitt of catcher Tyler Freeze.

"The umpire had called a strike on that at-bat on a pitch that was way outside," Park said. "I was thinking, 'There's no way he can hit that pitch', so I tried to throw it there again, and it was strike three. If that's called a ball and the count goes 3-2, I have no clue what I'm going to throw him."

It was not a great afternoon for Crucitti, who was playing first base instead of center field because of a swollen knee, but he handled it philosophically.

"They fed me a lot of curveballs, and the one ball I hit well got up right into the teeth of the wind," he said. "On that at-bat against Park, it was a big-time chance for us, and I didn't get the job done. Maybe that strike was outside, but what a good pitcher does is locate pitches, and Park located that pitch perfectly. I'll give him credit."

Julio Zubillaga had two doubles and a single to lead an 11-hit Carson attack.

"We hit a lot of balls hard the other way," Carson coach Chris Cauble said. "After Friday, it was good to see us get back to double-digit hits."

West lefty Zack Simpson was on the mound. He struck out six, but his defense let him down. Four of the six runs charged to Simpson were unearned.

"Zack threw well enough for us to win if the defenses had played even," West coach David Wright said. "Carson's very good at the top of the lineup, but I thought we helped them with some errors when the lower part of their lineup was up there. We hit too many balls in the air, didn't even make their infield play, and we've just got to do a better job in a whole lot of areas."Carson got solid pitching for 42/3 innings from Martin, a right-handed sophomore. He entered the game on short notice when starter Gavin Peeler's arm went numb after his scoreless first inning.

"I was ready to pitch, but I wasn't expecting to be out there in the second," Martin said. "But my curveball was working, and I don't think I missed a spot all day."

Gunnar Hogan's RBI double gave Carson a 1-0 lead in the first, but Simpson avoided serious damage.

A leadoff double by Zubillaga triggered Carson's three-run third, and an error keyed the inning. Third baseman Chandler Jones threw low after gloving a grounder, and Crucitti couldn't make the dig at first base. A run scored on a passed ball before Patrick Bearden and Weston Snow knocked in runs.

Carson bumped its lead to 5-0 in the fourth when Caleb Srackangast got an infield hit and scored from first base when Grkman's double was mishandled in right field by Patrick Hampton.

West started inching back in the fifth when pinch-hitter D.J. Webb singled in Thomas Hester, but Martin got a called third strike on Jonie Bautista — another pitch that had West fans howling — to strand two.

Hester's two-out single in the sixth cut the deficit to 5-2, and a single by Garczynski and walk to Webb loaded the bases for Crucitti. That's when Park got the key out.

"Crucitti's a great hitter, been doing it for years," Cauble said. "We got a call there to go our way, and if we don't get it, who knows? The game could've changed."

Carson made sure the outcome didn't change by scoring five times in the seventh.

Zubillaga doubled to open the inning, and Wright lifted Simpson in favor of right-hander Matt Miller. The scoreboard moved to 6-2 when Crucitti couldn't smother a hard-hit bouncer by Freeze.

After Bearden singled and Snow walked, Joseph Basinger rapped a two-run double down the third-base line to blow it open.

"For some reason, we play really good against everyone but East," Park said. "Maybe when we play East we get tight because we want to beat them so bad."

Carson gets another shot against East at home on April 13. There's a good chance it will mean something.