By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – It is still too early for William Carey baseball to be facing any must-win games.
Nevertheless, there was a sense of urgency between games Saturday at Milton Wheeler Field in a Southern States Athletic Conference doubleheader against Blue Mountain College.
After losing the first game of the twinbill 4-3 and facing three weeks of road games, the Crusaders rallied in the nightcap for an authoritative 10-2 victory.
Combined with Friday’s 6-2 win, it gave Carey (14-4 overall) two wins in the three-game series to open the conference schedule. The Toppers dropped to 10-7 and 1-2.
“I was pleased at how we bounced back,” said Carey head coach Bobby Halford. “I think this group understands that that’s what it’s going to take. You hate to lose a conference game, but give them credit; they played well.”
The best thing about Saturday’s results was the effort from the Crusaders’ two starters. Senior Jorge Ramos got Carey into the seventh inning of the opener, and newcomer A.J. Stinson went all nine innings in the second game for the win.
Ramos (1-3) was basically done in by two bad pitches to Topper senior Anthony Lipsey, who drove in all four runs for BMC.
In the top of the first inning, senior Raymond Gonzales led off with the first of his three singles in the game, a slow roller just off the mound that Ramos would have been better served putting in his pocket.
Instead, he threw wildly past first base into rightfield, allowing Gonzales to reach second. He took third on a groundout and scored on Lispey’s single up the middle.
Ramos avoided further trouble when Lipsey was caught off the bag on a diving catch in rightfield by Carey’s Chris Williams, who easily threw to first for the double play.
Ramos ran into more trouble in the third, starting with a one-out single by Gonzales. Ramos got an out, but junior Dylan Hale bounced a comebacker off Ramos’ leg toward third base for an infield single.
Lipsey then turned on a 1-0 pitch and sent it well over the leftfield fence for a three-run home run and a 4-0 lead.
“Jorge threw a bad pitch, but the kid that hit it for them has been one of their best players since we’ve been playing them,” said Halford. “That was difference in the game.”
The Crusaders got three runs back in the bottom of the third.
Sophomore Caleb Laird reached on an error to lead off the inning. Senior Jordan Szush and junior Patrick Lee followed with singles through the infield to load the bases.
Sophomore R.J. Stinson drove in a run on a slow roller up the middle that retired Lee, a botched pickoff play netted another run and sophomore Jake Lycette got another run home with a sacrifice fly to leftfield.
But that was it for the Crusader offense in the game.
Indeed. WCU had ample opportunities to score in the subsequent innings, getting runners on base in all four innings.
“The thing I was disappointed that we didn’t execute in a few key situations when we had a chance,” said Halford. “We had chances to score runs and we didn’t do it, and I’ve got to give them credit; they made some plays when they had to.
“We didn’t get the hits, we didn’t move runners over like we needed to in a couple of situations and that came back to bite us.”
Credit left-hander Josh Smith and the Topper defense for preserving the one-run lead.
In the fourth, Williams and senior Magruder O’Bannon opened the inning with a single and a walk off BMC starter Colton Peel, who got an out at third on a groundball, then gave way to Smith, who got two popups to get out of the inning.
In the fifth, R.J. Stinson’s one-out single was erased on a double play, and the Crusaders got senior Wiley Cleland and Williams on base with a single and a walk to open the sixth, but Smith got a groundball, a strikeout and a sharp fly right into the glove of Lipsey at first base.
Carey’s best chance to score came in the seventh, when Szush drew a leadoff walk, took second on Lee’s sacrifice and went to third on Stinson’s single.
But senior second baseman Easton Rainer saved the Toppers by snagging Lycette’s sharp liner and Smith struck out Cleland to earn the victory, improving his record to 2-1.
“He kept us off-balance some, but we just didn’t execute when we needed to,” said R.J. Stinson. “
Ramos kept the Crusaders in the game, scattering eight hits and not allowing a run the rest of the way. He struck out three and walked just one.
Sophomore lefty Dario Herrera got WCU out of a bases-loaded jam with a double-play in the top of the seventh, and he would be the only other pitcher Halford would use.
“After the first game, we were kind of upset about how it turned out,” said Lee. “We had a different mindset in the second game. Once we got up, we kind of let up a bit; we should have put it away, but we got the job done.
“The first game we didn’t execute. We had first and second several times and didn’t put the ball in play with one out.”
The Crusaders put their resolve to good use in the second game behind former Hattiesburg High standout A.J. Stinson, who had not pitched a lot in his college career at Appalachian State, where he played after leading the Tigers to the state championship in his senior year.
“I had a lot of experience from my other school, so I felt like that’s helped me,” said A.J. Stinson. “It just maturity. Coming in and dominating; that’s what I wanted to do. That’s why I came here.”
Stinson (3-0) certainly looked the part of a staff leader against the Toppers. He gave up six hits, two runs, struck out 11, walked a pair and hit two batters. He was only in trouble in the fifth and sixth innings, and by then the Crusaders had a 9-0 lead.
“A.J. probably pitched one of the best games we’ve had all year,” Halford said. “The reason we wanted to let him go all the way is because he really hasn’t pitched that much in his college career. He was throwing real well and we felt like he needed to continue to do that.”
Carey needed just two innings to get to BMC senior starter Easton Williams (2-1). In the bottom of the second, sophomore Kris Jones led off with a single and senior Colby Cagle drew a walk. Laird sacrificed the runners over and Szush drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Lee followed with the biggest at-bat of the game, a monster shot to the wall in left-centerfield that resulted in a run-scoring triple. R.J. Stinson drove Lee home for a 3-0 lead.
“I just relaxed at the plate and tried to put it in play,” said Lee. “He gave me a middle-in pitch. I’m usually not too good with those pitches, but I’ve been working on it. I just turned on it and took it for a ride.”
WCU broke it open in the fourth, sending 11 batters to the plate, scoring six runs with the help of three Topper errors.
Laird opened the inning with an infield single and Szush got aboard on an error at second base. Lee single to load the bases and R.J. Stinson got the first run home with a walk.
Lycette had a sacrifice fly for an RBI, Williams and Cagle each reached on errors, along with a walk to Jones, and it was Laird how capped the inning with a two-run single into leftfield.
Stinson was 5 of 10 for the weekend series, bringing his batting average to .500 for the season, with a team-high 18 RBIs out of the leadoff spot in the Crusaders batting order. Stinson has had at least one hit in every game the Crusaders have played.
“I feel most comfortable in the leadoff spot, because I’ve been doing that my whole life,” said R.J. Stinson. “I’m used to it, and I try to take advantage of it as much as I can.
“I try not to think about (the hitting streak); I just try go out and be me.”
The big lead allowed A.J. Stinson – no relation to R.J. – the ability to relax and pitch his game. Relying mainly on a fastball that topped out at 94 mph Saturday, Stinson showed little effect of the 128-pitch performance.
The Toppers scored both their runs in the fifth inning, coming after the long bottom of the fourth. Rainer and sophomore Jacob Rousseau opened the inning with singles, and both scored on a single by junior Reilly Tate.
But Lycette at first base was able to double-up Tate after snaring a sharply-hit ball from Gonzales.
BMC also got the first two batters on in the sixth with a hit batter and a single, but A.J. Stinson got a strikeout and Cagle, behind the plate, zapped the runner with a quick throw to first for the double play.
A.J. had no further issues the rest of the way.
“I was just trying to keep my composure, not get frustrated,” said A.J. Stinson. “Coach came out and got me calmed down, and really helped me make the perfect pitch.
“Last three innings, I got in a second gear. I didn’t want to give the ball up and that motivated me even more to go out and dominate.
The Crusaders added another run in the eighth, when Cleland led off with a single, took second on slow roller to the first-base side of the mound and scored on Cagle’s RBI single.
Carey will now test its meddle with its longest stretch of road games this season, starting with a two-day series Tuesday and Wednesday at Reinhardt (Ga.). Game times for days are at noon. The Crusaders travel to New Orleans next weekend for an SSAC series against Loyola.
WCU will not be back home until March 25, hosting Stillman in a conference game.
“This team is a pretty good road team,” said Halford. “We hit some balls today that in any other ballpark in America would have been home runs. We smoked some balls and got nothing for it.”
College Baseball Linescores
Saturday at Milton Wheeler Field
Blue Mountain 4, William Carey 3
BMC 103 000 0 – 4 8 2
WCU 003 000 0 – 3 6 1
BLUE MOUNTAIN (10-6, 1-1 in SSAC): Raymond Gonzales 3 1B; Dylan Hale 1B; Anthony Lipsey HR (3-run), 2 1B (4 RBIs); Reilly Tate 1B. WP – Josh Smith (3-1). Also pitching – Colton Peel (starter).
WILLIAM CAREY (13-4, 1-1 in SSAC): R.J. Stinson 2 1B; Wiley Cleland 1B; Chris Williams 1B; Jordan Szush 1B. LP – Jorge Ramos (1-3). Also pitching – Dario Herrera.
William Carey 10, Blue Mountain 2
BMC 000 020 000 – 2 6 3
WCU 030 600 01X – 10 12 0
BLUE MOUNTAIN (10-7, 1-2 in SSAC): Alex Frillman 2 1B; Dylan Hale 1B; Easton Rainer 1B; Jacob Rousseau 1B; Reilly Tate 1B. LP – Easton Williams (2-1). Also pitching – Derick Cuadrado; Pate Phillips.
WILLIAM CAREY (14-4, 2-1 in SSAC): R.J. Stinson 2 1B; Wiley Cleland 1B; Kris Jones 2 1B; Colby Cagle 2 1B; Caleb Laird 2 1B; Patrick Lee 3B, 2 1B. WP – A.J. Stinson (3-0) 11 Ks.
Photos courtesy of Jesse Johnson
