Crusaders lasso the competition in Houston
Brayden Allen, Staff Writer
Break out the bats, gloves and cowboy hats as the North Greenville baseball team began their quest to defend the title by opening up the season in Houston, Texas.
Coming off the most successful season in program history the team had its sights set on 2023, maintaining the tradition of success under head coach Landon Powell. However, in the eight years that he has been the Crusaders leader, no season has started like this one.
After an exciting offseason which included bringing in the highest rated recruiting class in program history, the team traveled on February 2nd to take part in the 2023 Winter Invitational hosted by the University of Central Missouri at Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros.
Having an opportunity to play in a major league baseball stadium was a once a lifetime event for everyone on the team but to some it meant just a little bit more. For freshman Zach Cowart, this was a dream come true considering that the Astros were his favorite team growing up.
“Growing up in Louisiana, the Astros were always on the local station during baseball season,” Cowart said. “Getting the opportunity to play in Minute Maid is something I will never forget. Playing in that stadium was one of the coolest things I’ve experienced.”
On a highly anticipated opening day the number one ranked Crusaders faced off against the number 13 ranked Mules of Central Missouri, a team that prides itself as being one of the most successful in Division II history.
North Greenville got off the early lead in the second inning as two runs came to score on back to back errors committed by the Mules infield. The Crusaders continued by scoring an additional 10 runs, in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
After only seven innings of play North Greenville wrangled Central Missouri 12 to one, solidifying themselves as the best team in the nation.
Game two featured the Crusaders taking on a tough Arkansas Tech team that proved to be nothing short of a challenge. After giving up a grand slam in the top of the first inning, the red and black responded with a homerun of their own off the bat of senior Marek Chlup.
After a back and forth battle, the Crusaders once again brought back their nickname from a year ago. The “Cardiac Kids” eventually took the lead in the 8th inning, out-scoring the Wonderboys by a final score of 11 to nine.
Game three proved to be the toughest as the Crusaders wrapped up the weekend with a Sunday battle against the Wildcats of Chico State. Offensive struggles and defensive success were the headlines early in the game as only two total runs were scored through the first five innings.
Falling behind once again, this time by four runs in the sixth inning, the team began to fight their way back into the game. After putting up four runs of their own, the Crusaders took the lead with a no doubt homerun by Senior Corey Bivins, putting them up seven to four.
However, the Wildcats didn’t go down easy. Two additional runs were scored in the 8th inning as the Crusaders continued to play many of their young pitchers.
Senior pitcher Nate Roof sealed the deal for North Greenville as he struck out the final Chico State batter, giving the Crusaders the win and the series sweep.
The weekend was once again a first for the program. The sweep gave the team its first three and zero start in Powell’s tenure as head coach.
