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Crusaders, Panthers control first round baseball wins

Posted 5/3/19

Richard Smith

West Valley Preps

Though both were underdogs according to their seeding, the Northwest Christian and Paradise Honors baseball teams grabbed leads in the top of the first inning of …

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Crusaders, Panthers control first round baseball wins

Posted

Richard Smith

West Valley Preps

Though both were underdogs according to their seeding, the Northwest Christian and Paradise Honors baseball teams grabbed leads in the top of the first inning of Friday's 3A first round playoff games and never let go.

No. 9 Northwest Christian (16-11) never trailed region rival and No. 8 seed Kingman (19-6-1) in it 6-2 win. On an adjacent field at Surprise Baseball Complex, No. 10 Paradise Honors (10-10-1) never had to worry in its 16-1 rout of No. 7 Snowflake (16-11).

First round wins at Surprise are becoming old hat for the Crusaders, 2015 and 2017 state champions and 2014 runners up.

For the Panthers, it was a landmark win - beyond the margin of victory. The first round win was the first playoff victory of any kind for the program.

Paradise Honors 16  Snowflake 1 (6 innings)

With the dominant performance, Paradise Honors advances to a second round game against No. 2 American Leadership Academy-Queen Creek (18-5-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday on the Surprise Recreation Campus fields.

Entering the playoffs, Panthers coach Charles Summers said his team had the quality and depth of pitching to go on a run.

His only question was if the team could score enough. In that respect, the Panthers picked the perfect game to exceed its previous season high run total by five runs.

"They've been working hard on staying back and seeing the ball longer. That got them to see a couple of extra pitches. And then their guy had a little control issue. That was the difference," Summers said. "They did great. We had one of those games where we put it all together."

Junior Sam Nickels drove in junior Hayden King for a 1-0 lead after one.

Sophomore T.J. Staab provided a cushion in the second. His two-run double down the left field line scored senior Zach Collier and freshman Trey Hermann.

"The first at bat, I was taking first pitch. He threw one right down the middle and the next pitch was in the same spot and I was able to hit it," Staab said.

Staab scored again in the top of the fourth thanks to a Snowflake throwing error. Meanwhile junior pitcher James Hamill continued to roll. And up 4-0, he was about to get a lot more help.

First he helped himself, doubling to lead off the fifth. Following a walk, junior Daelyn Phillips smacked a two-run double.

Staab added a sacrifice fly, then sophomore Andrew DeLaney drove in a run and the Lobos walked in another with the bases loaded. The Panthers led 9-0 entering the bottom of the fifth.

Snowflake finally got to Hamill, but could only push across one run. Paradise Honors had seven more in them.

Nickels drilled a two-run triple and Hammill capped the highlight-reel afternoon by launching a three-run homer.

"After our whole season, to get into this one tournament, our confidence rose high," Staab said.

Even better for the Panthers, Hammill pitched all six innings.

Every other Paradise Honors arm, led by King and sophomore Joey Collier, are available Saturday against ALA.

"(Hammill) was command. When he did miss the zone, he didn't do it by much. And our defense made the plays," Summers said. "Everybody who has pitched this year is on deck for tomorrow."

Northwest Christian's Bennett Beltramo throws a pitch against Kingman on Friday, May 3, 2019 at Surprise Stadium practice fields during a 3A baseball first round game in Surprise. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]

Northwest Christian 6  Kingman 2

The Crusaders get another shot at top seed Chandler Valley Christian (23-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday in Surprise. The Trojans won 11-1 on April 24.

Friday's  matchup featured two 3A West Region team who split their .

Northwest Christian came in with this knowledge and received a pleasant surprise when the Bulldogs did not start senior pitcher Rilee Araya.

"It's nice to know what to expect. We hadn't seen that pitcher this year. Rilee, who came in relief, shut us down earlier this year. When I rolled up to the park, I fully expected to see him on the mound. I was actually kind of excited when I saw he wasn't starting," Northwest Christian coach Bob Howry said.

Senior pitcher Dante Bravo sported similar statistics entering the playoffs, but the Crusaders jumped on him early. Senior Max Nebel scored Northwest Christian's second first-inning run on a throwing error.

In the second, they tacked on two more on an infield hit by junior AJ Kostic. Araya entered but his team now trailed 4-0.

That was more than enough for Crusaders' junior starter Bennett Beltramo.

"Those kids can rake. I just wanted to keep them off balance and coach Howry called an amazing game," Beltramo said. "This team never gives up. We pride ourselves in being team players."

Kingman got one back on freshman Zac McCray's second inning sacrifice fly. The Bulldogs would not score again until their last gasp.

Beltramo doubled past the first baseman and down the right field line with one out in the fourth. Senior Levi DeLaPiedra followed with an RBI double to center for a 5-1 lead.

Northwest Christian tacked on an insurance run in the fifth.

Two Crusaders errors allowed Kingman to score once in the bottom of the seventh and advance runners to first and third. But Beltramo rung up a batter and his catcher picked off the runner cheating in from third to end the game.

"You don't want to see that, but when you have a five-run lead it's less of an issue," Howry said. "We have the rest of the staff to help us get through Saturday's game. That is a big thing for us."

Paradise Honors' James Hamill throws a pitch against Snowflake on Friday, May 3 during a 3A first round game at Surprise Stadium practice fields in Surprise. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]