Whatever offensive struggles North Greenville has experienced recently, they seemingly left them behind (along with the warm temperatures and sunshine) in the state of Florida.
In weather that feels more like the early February games in Tigerville than Post-Season baseball in mid-May, the Crusaders wasted no time jumping ahead of a talented Mount Vernon Cougar Baseball team.
It began with 2 runs in a top of the 1st inning which saw needed contributions from the middle of the NGU batting order.
Though the crusaders added 5 more runs along the way, those two would have been enough for Drew Provence who went 6 full and allowed only one run--and it did not come until the 5th inning. Provence lived up to his billing the night before as the NCCAA Pitcher of the year.
Anthony Foulk and Adam Taylor came to life to help lead the way for the Crusaders, while Calicutt, Fulmer, Giles and Reinholz continued their red-hot hitting of late.
With the 7-1 victory, the Crusaders control their own destiny, and will be able to do so as long as they continue to win.
Remember what I wrote earlier today about everyone being good? Remember what I said about everyone being capable of winning at this point in the season? The first four games of the day saw the top four seeds open 0-1. The surprise of Day 1 had to be the play of Oklahoma Wesleyan and King College...The 9th and 10th seeds in the tournament came away from Wednesday's activities 2-0 and in control of their respective pools. Even more surprising is the fact that none of the top 5 seeds won a a baseball game today.
I have listed the pool records after Day 1 below...
#10 King College 2-0 #9 Oklahoma Wesleyan 2-0
#6 North Greenville 1-0 #8 Olivet Nazerene 1-1
#7 Masters College 1-1 #5 Malone College 0-0-1
#3 MT. Vernon 0-1 #1 Southeastern 0-1
#2 Judson University 0-2 #4 Cedarville University 0-1-1
*Cedarville and Malone were given a tie, due to the time limit.
The World Series is certainly not disappointing in terms of competitiveness and unique story lines. Let me use this opportunity to also say what a great job the NCCAA folks and the Prasco team are doing. This is truly an impressive environment and atmosphere for baseball. Everything is being carried out with excellence and enthusiasm. I look forward to the rest of the tournament.
Looking ahead...
North Greenville faces a pivotal day tomorrow. The Crusaders will play the equivalent of a double header: facing #2 seed Judson at 10AM and #7 Seed Masters College at 4PM. It would seem the Crusaders need at least a split to remain in the hunt, while a sweep of tomorrow's games would most assuredly set up a Friday showdown with King for the pool victory and a berth into the championship series.
The Crusaders will continue to take it one game at a time. Mike Benjamin will be on the mound in Game 1, with Ryan Woodring throwing in Game 2. We will do our best to keep you posted throughout the day.
North Greenville plays on the big field, Prasco Park, for both games tomorrow.
We will be on the air with the Crusader webcast video feed and pre-game show 15 minutes prior to each game. I'm pretty pumped...for the first time since the game at Drive stadium downtown on April 20th, we are going to be in an actual press box.
See you bright and early tomorrow morning...Grab some breakfast and join us at 9:45...
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