Crusaders charge through the competition
Brayden Allen, Staff Writer
Baseball season in Tigerville is reaching its height as the North Greenville baseball team continues to push on through the season. The Crusaders are coming off one of their strongest weekly performances of the season as the team picked up four crucial wins to contribute towards their postseason hopes.
The week began in Tigerville with a matchup against nationally ranked opponent Lenoir-Rhyne. With the Bears ranked 12 in the nation, this was a must win regional game for North Greenville.
Redshirt junior John Michael Faile got things started for the Crusaders with a home run on his first plate appearance of the night, scoring three. The Bears would respond in the top of the second with a solo shot of their own to make the score three to one.
Faile once again put his name into the spotlight in the bottom of the third with his second homer of the night, putting the Crusaders up 4-1 going into the fourth inning.
North Greenville began to pile on the runs beginning in the fourth inning as two men would score. Two more were added in fifth to extend the Crusaders lead to seven.
In the sixth, redshirt senior Gehrig Octavio singled to right field to drive in a run by redshirt junior Cory Bivins. The Crusaders led 9-1 going into the eighth inning.
The eighth inning saw North Greenville extend their lead as two more runs would score. After drawing a walk and stealing second, sophomore Pat Monteith came around to score, followed by Bivins who scored on a single by redshirt junior Marek Chlup.
After giving up a solo shot home run in the top of the ninth, redshirt senior Tristian Hudson closed out the game as the Crusaders defeated Lenoir-Rhyne by a final of 12 to two.
The second challenge of the week came in the weekend series with in-conference rival Mount Olive. For the past five years, the Crusaders and the Trojans have battled for the top spot in Conference Carolinas.
North Greenville opened up the series with an 8-4 victory on Friday. Monteith put the Crusaders ahead in the bottom of the fifth with a grand slam after Mount Olive had taken the lead after scoring two in the top of the inning.
Game two saw a much closer matchup as both teams struggled to consistently score runs.
North Greenville scored in the first and fourth innings to take the early 2-0 lead. The Trojans responded by scoring two of their own in the top of the sixth.
The game came down to the bottom of the seventh with the score tied two to two. Senior Josh Senter hit the winning walk-off home run as the Crusaders took game two 3-2, winning the series.
The series finale came down to game three as the Crusaders looked to sweep Mount Olive.
Mount Olive took the early 1-0 lead before Octavio came around to score, tying the game at one. Going into the bottom of the sixth the Trojans led eight to one after scoring five unanswered runs in the third, fifth and top of sixth innings.
Senior Ethan Stringer would start the comeback as he scored one in the bottom of the sixth. The Crusaders would add four runs in seventh, beginning with a two run home run by sophomore Jax Cash.
After adding another run in the eighth, the Trojans led by one going into the bottom of the ninth inning. Faile drove in the tying run with a single, driving in Octavio to tie the score at eight.
Senter once again secured the victory for North Greenville by driving in Stringer for the game winning run as the Crusaders swept Mount Olive. For Senter, this day meant more than all the others.
“It felt amazing,” Senter said. “Mount Olive is a good team and this series has always had huge implications on the rest of the season. So it kinda created a rivalry between us. It was cool to be able to help get the sweep.”
For Cash, his home run was a crucial turning point in game three.
“It was awesome man.” Cash said. “I had complete and total confidence in my guys to come through and I knew they felt the same about me. I also knew I was prepared and confident in myself and I knew I’ve put in the work to make big things happen when it comes time to do so. I’m just glad in the end it was enough to get us going and help us win.”
North Greenville finishes the week with a four and zero record as they extend their winning streak to eight straight games. With the wins over Lenoir-Rhyne and Mount Olive, the Crusaders have a great deal of confidence going forward in the season.
“It was a great week for us,” Senter said. “It shows everyone how good we really are. Moving forward I think it gives us the confidence we need and gives us momentum going into another big week.”
“It’s huge for us,” Cash said. “Getting a midweek win versus a ranked team like Lenoir-Rhyne and then getting a sweep against our biggest rival in the conference is a good tell-tale sign of what’s to come for us.”
The Crusaders were back at it in Tigerville on March 29 at 5:00 p.m. against the Bearcats of Lander. Now, they’re set to get back on the road to take on conference leader, UNC-Pembroke.
