By David Shaw
dshawi@salisburypost.com
STATESVILLE ó Carsonís baseball team did its part to keep West Iredell in the NPC race Friday night.
The visiting Cougars couldnít find their stroke against lefty Sean Grant and suffered a 4-2 loss that tightened the already-congested league standings.
ěIt was an important game for us because weíre trying to keep pace,î said coach Chris Cauble. ěBut it was very important for them because theyíve been struggling a bit. A loss here puts them even further down the line.î
Carson (7-5, 4-2) was limited to six singles and dropped into third place. Fourth-place West (4-4, 3-2) erased an early two-run deficit and captured a game head coach Randy Martin called ěa must win.î
He added: ěI went through Carsonís lineup and saw they were hitting like .360 as a team. We had to figure out a way to shut them down.î
Grant provided a solution. The junior braided a garden-variety fastball with a baffling assortment of off-speed deliveries to win his third game of the season. He blanked the Cougars on four hits over the final six innings.
ěHe kept us off-balance with lots of off-speed stuff,î said Carsonís Gunnar Hogan. ěAt times he even pitched backwards.î
Thatís baseball venacular for throwing fastballs on curveball counts and vice versa. Grant was more of a laborer than a craftsman, but his thought process helped silence a hot-hitting team.
ěHe actually worked his fastball off the plate,î Martin reported, ěand tried to get them out with soft stuff.î
The Cougars seemed to have Grantís number in the top of the first inning. Kyle Youngo steered a leadoff single up the middle, Hogan drew a one-out walk and both runners scored when designated hitter Mitch Galloway drilled a two-out single ó on an 0-2 pitch ó into center field.
ěThe last four of five ballgames (Galloway) probably has 10 or 11 RBIs for us,î said Cauble. ěHeís really starting to feel himself now. That was normal for him and us. We just couldnít do anything after the first inning.î
It wasnít for lack of opportunity. Carson had runners on base in all seven innings ó but stranded nine. Leading 2-1 in the second, the Cougars put men on first and second with two out before Grant induced one of his 10 groundouts to escape. An inning later Joe Basinger coaxed a walk and Josh Martin reached on a two-out bunt single, but that rally fizzled when Tripp Cross went down swinging.
ěMy curve and slider got better as the game went on,î Grant said after his 112-pitch, complete-game effort. ěThat first inning they came out firing. But after that, everything fell into place.î
Meanwhile, things started unravelling for Carson. A couple of close calls went against the Cougars. The plate umpireís Mini-Me strike zone, paired with their failure to produce timely hits, left them angered and frustrated. Grant certainly noticed.
ěSeeing us get down just gave him more momentum,î said Youngo, a .393 hitter before the first pitch. ěHeís a pretty good pitcher, but our hitters werenít on tonight. We missed a lot of opportunities.î
West tied the score in the bottom of the fourth when Vance Robinette singled, was sacrificed to second and scored on Travis Fetterís two-out base hit.
CHS starting pitcher Gavin Peeler was chased in the fifth inning after surrendering a leadoff single and hitting Westís next batter.
The hosts cashed in against Josh Martin, who relieved and allowed the tie-breaking run to score on a wild pitch. With two runners in scoring position, Robinette lofted a first-pitch sac fly to center to make it 4-2.
ěI told Robinette he had one chance to get the run in,î said Westís Coach Martin. ěThen we were gonna squeeze.î
Carson made a final charge up the hill in the top of the seventh, only to be repelled once again. Hogan grounded a one-out single before Basinger smashed a Ruthian fly ball that Robinette snagged in deep left field. The drama ended when Galloway bounced out.
ěThe last few games our approach at the plate had been better,î Caudle concluded. ěWe regressed a little tonight, but Grant had something to do with that. Hats off to him.î