By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Several Catawba Indians had dazzling days in Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of Lenoir-Rhyne, but slugging catcher T.J. Wharton didn’t join the fun.

“Well, I was 0-for-6 with five strikeouts, while Blake (Houston) and (Craig) Brooks were carrying us,” Wharton said with a laugh. “My swing felt fine Saturday, but my pitch selection was bad. I did a better job  today.”

A powerful right-handed hitter, Wharton, who played in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League last summer, bats cleanup for Catawba for a reason. The .455-hitter belted three hits, including two ringing doubles, as the Indians walloped Lenoir-Rhyne, 13-2, on Sunday at Newman Park, finishing a sweep of the weekend South Atlantic Conference series.

Catawba (15-4, 8-3 SAC)  broke it open with a four-run fifth inning that provided an 8-2 lead. Wharton was in the middle of several productive innings, as was his running mate, No. 3 hitter Will Albertson. Albertson, a transfer from NCAA Division I Campbell, had four more hits Sunday and is batting .404 with a team-high 26 RBIs.

“Will is unbelievable,” Wharton said. “His swing is so smooth, but the ball jumps off his bat.”

Albertson had a connection with several Catawba players. He played with Catawba shortstop Dylan Richardson at Randleman High and played with Richardson and Catawba freshman Kyle Smith on coach Ronnie Pugh’s strong Randolph County Post 45 American Legion teams.

“Guys generally aren’t as tall, but the pitching isn’t all that different at this level,” Albertson said.  “A guy like Craig Brooks, he’s definitely a Division I pitcher, but he’s pitching for Catawba because he stands 5-10.”

Albertson said Catawba coaches have been working with him on hitting for more power. He has a team-best six homers.

“We’re not facing any chumps on the mound, but it’s helped me that I’m hitting in front of T.J.,” Albertson said. “I get pitches to hit because of the reputation he has around the league.”

Catawba has lost twice by 1-0 scores, but the Indians are batting .321 as a team and have outscored opponents, 178-57. Catawba is averaging 9.4 runs per game.

“When we’ve struggled, it’s been games where Wharton and Albertson hit the ball at people and that put a lot of pressure on our freshmen,” Catawba coach Jim Gantt said. “But there are days like today where those two help everyone else in the lineup to relax a little bit.”

Richardson, who hits seventh, is batting .369 with 24 RBI. Freshman first baseman Chance Bowden, who bats eighth, has knocked in 17 runs. Freshman right fielder Luke Setzer often bats ninth, and he jumped off the bench and lined a double off the wall on Sunday.

“The young guys like Chance and Luke have been good, and they’ll  keep getting better,” Wharton said. “It’s going to be tough to keep everyone in this lineup quiet.”

Catawba got a big boost from long reliever Matt Farmakis on Saturday and got a similar shot in the arm from former East Davidson star Avery Bowles on Sunday. Bowles was called on in the third inning to relieve starter Connor Johnson, and Bowles lasted into the seventh.

“Connor just didn’t have his stuff,  they were barreling up a lot of balls early, and we had a rested bullpen,” Gantt said. “Bowles is coming back from (Tommy John) surgery. He’s really going to help us.”

Bowles (2-0) has a lively fastball, but Wharton explained that the key pitch for Bowles against the Bears, a fastball-hitting team, was his curveball.

“I’ve changed the grip on the curveball, and they weren’t picking it up as early,’ Bowles said. “Physically, I felt great, and I believe I could’ve gone longer than I did. But when Coach Gantt says that’s far enough, you respect his decision.”

Russ Weiker relieved Bowles in the seventh inning and got a ground ball for a double play. Bryan Blanton was strong in the eighth inning and Ryan Kahny pitched an eventful, but scoreless, ninth frame.

Richardson had three hits and two RBI. Bowden knocked in two runs. Malachi Hanes had two hits.

Catawba broke a 2-2 tie in the third inning when hits by Albertson and Wharton set the table. Richardson and Bowden knocked in the runs with two-out hits.

“We’re stringing hits together,” Albertson said. “This weekend, a lot of guys got hot at the same time.”

Richardson’s double helped get a four-run fifth started, and the Bears messed up a potential 1-2-3 double play that would’ve limited the damage.

Catawba, on the other hand, didn’t do much wrong.

“I was proud of how our guys looked in this series,” Gantt said. “We played hard. We played focused.”

Catawba is scheduled to play Shippensburg at home Tuesday (moved from Wednesday) and has another key SAC series next weekend when Lincoln Memorial visits Newman Park. LMU (9-3), Tusculum (9-3) and Catawba (8-3) are the top three in the SAC standings.

Lenoir-Rhyne      020    000   000 — 2   10   4

Catawba                202   042    30x — 13   17   1

W — Bowles (2-0). L — Vieitez (2-3). HR — Thompson (1).