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Home - Local News Sports Obituaries Editorial Social Archives |
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Sports - May 2002 |
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Cavs edge Rebels, take Midwest crown From staff reports May 17, 2002 - SHELBY--East Rutherford held off a last-ditch West Lincoln rally in the top of the seventh inning to win the Midwest 2A Conference tournament 3-2 Thursday night. The win at Veterans Field gave the streaking Cavaliers (18-8) a sweep of the league's regular season and tournament championships. East Rutherford made a run to the dual titles after a 1-5 start to the season. The Rebels (21-6) lost to East Rutherford for the second time in a week and had to settle for the runner-up spot in the both the regular season and tournament. West Lincoln got a gritty pitching performance from little-used Justin Pearson, but the Rebels could not take advantage of scoring opportunities early in the contest. For example, the Rebels opened the second inning with three consecutive hits against East Rutherford righthander Marcus Covington, but got only one run across The Cavalier infield turned a double play on Mitch Warlick's grounder, and Covington struck out Pearson to retire the side. West mounted another threat in the third inning, but the Cavaliers came through again with a defensive stop. With one run across and Josh Carpenter at third, Brandon Mosteller hit a shot back to the mound. The ball deflected off Covington's glove and shortstop Matt McCraw made a one-handed grab and fired to first in time for the inning-ending out. The Cavaliers never trailed in the game. McCraw opened the bottom of the first with a double to right center, stole third on a bungled pitch-out and scored on a sacrifice fly. East Rutherford continued its aggressive baserunning in the second, swiping two bases and using a throwing error and wild pitch to score two runs for a 3-1 advantage. The lead held up as Covington retired nine in a row over a four-inning stretch before putting down the West Lincoln rally in the seventh. With two outs, Pearson drew a walk and Jay Heafner singled through the middle. However, the rally died when Carpenter flew out to center to end the game. Pearson gave up seven hits but no runs after the second. He battled out of deep trouble in the bottom of the sixth to give his team a chance in the last inning. However, the problem was an offense that was limited to five hits, three of them coming in the same inning. Covington controlled the top of the West Lincoln batting order as Heafner, Carpenter and David Wise collectively went 2-for-9. The game did not affect either team's playoff circumstances. The Rebels will host a first-round game Tuesday against Western Alamance, while East Rutherford opens at home against Charles D. Owen of Swannanoa. In Wednesday' semifinal round, West Lincoln blew away Lincolnton 13-3 in five innings and East Rutherford shut out Bunker Hill 9-0. In the postgame awards ceremony Thursday night, four West Lincoln players and two Lincolnton players were named to the all-Midwest 2A squad. The Rebel foursome, all seniors, consisted of infielder Heafner, catcher Wise, outfielder Carpenter and pitcher-outfielder Chris Halubka. Named all-Midwest 2A from Lincolnton (13-13) were infielders Luis Arce and Justin Keever. The player of the year award went to pitcher Kris Harvey of Bandys. Reynolds was named coach of the year after guiding the Cavs to the dual championships.
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© 2001 Lincoln Times-News |
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Home - Local News Sports Obituaries Editorial Social Archives |
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