Tuscola baseball advances to second round of playoffs
May 8—Tuscola baseball is on to the second round of the NCHSAA 3A playoffs following an 11-1 win over Stuart Cramer on Tuesday night.
"These kids have worked so hard," Tuscola coach Zack Shepherd said. "They put in so many hours. It's nice seeing kids do things the right way and getting rewarded for it."
Tuscola came in as the No. 10 seed and was hosting the No. 23-seeded Storm. Despite the difference in seeds, the visitors struck first.
"The game didn't start the way we wanted," Shepherd said. "We had a couple of questionable calls. They scored a run in the first inning. But our kids slowed the game down and went back to the basics."
Those questionable calls drew the ire of the crowd and coaching staff. In the first inning, a Stuart Cramer batter was awarded first base after the umpire said he was hit by a pitch. The Tuscola staff argued that the ball had hit the bat and not the hands.
In the bottom of the first inning, a diving catch was made in left field. It seemed that the batter had been called out and the runner originally on first retreated to first.
After the umpires conferred, they ruled the catch had not been made, giving the batter first base, but calling out the runner that had retreated to first base.
The bottom of the second inning ended after what appeared to be a dropped third strike was not called. The batter ran down the first base line, but the umpire ruled the batter out saying the pitch had not been dropped.
All three calls fired up the coaching staff and fans.
"I may have gotten more mad than I should have," Shepherd said. "It's playoff time and these kids put all this work in and the adrenaline hits you and you get a little heated."
From there, Tuscola got the offense going, scoring four runs each in the third and fourth innings.
"We've been talking about when it comes to playoff time, you have to end all doubt," Shepherd said. "If you let a team hang around, that's when you get beat. You want to be the aggressor. From the bottom of the third on, we were the aggressor."
Part of that came from the bat of junior Kolt Nelson, who went four-for-four, scoring two runs and recording four RBIs.
"This is the time of year when you need hot bats," Shepherd said. "You're seeing good arms every game."
The Mounties added two more in the fifth inning, before ending the game with a "walk-off" double from freshman Bo West in the bottom of the sixth. The hit sent a runner in to put the Mounties up 10, ending the game by mercy rule.
"He's a competitor," Shepherd said. "He had a great night. They all had a great night."
Sophomore pitcher Amos Rich had another great performance, going six full innings, allowing two hits and one run while striking out 10 batters.
"Amos did his thing," Shepherd said. "He shoved. He did his thing. Getting out of the first inning and letting the bats get going was huge."
Now, Tuscola gets ready to face No. 7-seeded Rockingham County, who defeated Pisgah 4-3 in 15 innings on Tuesday night. That game will take place on Friday night in Rockingham County.
"It starts in practice tomorrow, getting locked back in," Shepherd said. "I told them to celebrate tonight and then we get back to business."
