Charlotte Catholic stays hot, beats Myers Park on the road to advance to third round
Charlotte Catholic advanced to the third round of the NCHSAA 4A baseball playoffs beating Myers Park 6-3 in a game that was delayed about an hour due to rainy weather.
A crowd of about 800 fans showed up at Myers Park’s Jack Sink Field to watch a Mustangs’ team that had reached the fourth round of the playoffs the past two seasons and had staged a dramatic comeback to beat rival South Mecklenburg in the SoMECK conference tournament championship game.
Catholic (20-5) came into the game after upsetting Providence in the Southwestern 4A championship and winning its first round playoff game earlier this week.
And the Cougars stayed hot.
After Myers Park starter Clay Masonis struck out the side in the first inning, the Cougars took advantage of two Mustang errors and a bloop single that fell untouched between three defenders. Senior catcher Sam Hucko’s three-run home run later in that inning made it 5-0 through two innings.
Jon Fijalkowski added a solo shot in the fourth inning, and Charlotte Catholic started to look in control until the Mustangs loaded the bases against starter Mason Child in the bottom of the fourth.
But Child got the Cougars out of the jam when Fijalkowski caught a fly ball in right field and doubled up Gray Anderson trying to tag and score. Myers Park scored one in the fourth and two in the fifth, when Child escaped another bind.
Child was finally replaced by Dylan Kelleher, who struck out two in 0.2 innings to preserve the win.
“For our guys to experience that atmosphere tonight, with 1,000 people that had to wait an hour to get in was special for us. It was awesome because we haven’t been in this position in awhile,” said Catholic coach Eddie Hull.
Three who mattered
Sam Hucko, Charlotte Catholic: The Cougars’ senior catcher delivered the hit of the night with a three-run, second-inning home run.
Jon Fijalkowski, Charlotte Catholic: The Cougars’ ninth-place hitter pulled a line-drive home run down the left-field line and was 2 for 2 with two runs scored.
Mason Child, Charlotte Catholic: The Cougars’ southpaw pitcher struck out five over 5.1 innings and allowed just four hits. He was relieved after throwing over 100 pitches.
