Faith Christian advances to state semis

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on May 9, 2012 1:48 PM

• Print
• Email

Faith Christian's seven seniors have some unfinished business.

The Conquerors took a step toward finishing that business with a 9-1 win over visiting Berean Christian on Tuesday afternoon in the N.C. Christian Schools Athletic Association 2-A eastern region state playoffs.

Faith faces Union Grove on Friday at Bethel Christian in Kinston. A game time has yet to be determined.

The Conquerors pounded out 12 hits and four different Faith pitchers held the Bulldogs to just two hits while recording 12 strikeouts. Faith Christian (13-5 overall) capitalized on seven Berean errors.

Trent Wise's RBI single in the bottom of the first inning scored Brandon Jones to put Faith in front 1-0. Wes Caudle later scored on an error. Wise's two-run double in the home half of the second increased the lead to 4-0.

Wise raced home on an error as the margin grew to 5-0.

"We jumped on them early," Conquerors' head coach Justin Smith said. "That's one thing we've tried to stress all year is jump on them early and to help our pitchers out."

The third error of the afternoon by Berean catcher Keith Adams allowed Wise to score in the bottom of the fourth inning. Wise finished with four hits and three RBI. Jones supplied three hits.

"Trent has earned his way to hit in that second spot in the lineup and he's done real well here for us and been big in that role," Smith said. "Today, Brandon got on base and hit the ball hard. They set the pace."

Alex Whitt tacked on an RBI groundout in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend the lead to 7-0.

The Bulldogs got a run back in the top of the sixth inning as Andrew Mosley drew a bases-loaded walk.

Silas Denlinger's two-run triple in the bottom of the sixth capped the Conquerors' scoring.

Faith Christian starting pitcher Wes Caudle earn the win on the mound with two scoreless innings. Denlinger, Wise and Jones each made relief appearances. Denlinger wiggled out of a bases-load jam in the fourth inning and Berean left the bases loaded against Wise in the sixth inning.

"The first two guys we threw have worked a lot this year," Smith said. "Trent, he's never pitched before and I'm real proud of him. He seemed pretty comfortable out there."