Spring creek

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on May 8, 2015 1:48 PM

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Sawyer Smith had not played more than one inning in a game at shortstop since his freshman year.

But Thursday night the junior had to be there for all seven. And after the first inning he had, he's thankful he got more than one.

Smith committed a first-inning error that turned into a run, but bounced back to make two defensive gems and help Spring Creek to a 5-1 victory over North Duplin that clinched the Gators first Carolina 1-A championship since 2004.

"We're all feeling really good right now, it was a great win for us," Smith said. "I mean, how do you not get pumped about a conference championship?"

It was no secret who was going to get the ball on the mound for the Gators. Despite not pitching as much this year as he did last year, Chad Spurgeon wanted to be on the hill in the big game. And as he has helped carry the team all season, Spring Creek coach Heath Whitfield saw it fit to oblige.

"He wanted the ball and he's been the leader for us all year," Whitfield said. "It was a terrific outing. If there's a game we have to win I want him on the mound."

And after North Duplin beat Spring Creek 2-1 to prevent the Gators from a conference title last year, Spurgeon still had a bad taste in his mouth.

"I knew we wanted to get these guys back," Spurgeon said.

Spurgeon mowed through the Rebels lineup early, with the exception of the unearned run he allowed in the first inning after Smith let a ground ball sneak under his glove.

But Spurgeon didn't get discouraged. In fact, he told his shortstop to keep his head up and he would continue to make plays.

Smith would later repay the favor.

But first, Spurgeon would have to battle a hard-hitting Rebels lineup. And he would have to do so without a curveball.

"I was just using my fastball," Spurgeon said. "My changeup was all right, but my curveball was bad tonight so I just had to pound the zone."

Spurgeon turned to his fastball and pounded the zone with strikes, relying on his defense to make the plays. They would respond.

Before the game, Spurgeon joked that he had enough to throw 63 pitches. Nine pitches an inning -- three hitters an inning, three strikes a hitter.

It was a lofty goal that he would need only nine pitches an inning. But he almost met it.

He threw 70.

"I didn't think I could throw a ton of pitches, maybe get through four or five innings," Spurgeon said. "But once the adrenaline going I was able to throw a little more than I thought."

North Duplin hitters noticed that Spurgeon didn't have his offspeed stuff, and chose to be aggressive. They chose to go after first-pitch strikes and not work the count to make Spurgeon throw more pitches.

"We hit a lot of balls hard tonight," North Duplin coach Chuck Crumpler said. "We just didn't work the count and make him throw pitches. He was effective because he only threw 70 pitches."

The Rebels threatened in the sixth with runners on second and third when Copeland Brickhouse hit a line drive up the middle. Smith came out of nowhere to snare the liner and get the Gators out of trouble. An inning later a ground ball was hit up the middle, and Smith again snared the grounder with a sliding stop, hopped to his feet and threw the runner out at first.

"That's big time," Spurgeon said. "I knew he was going to bounce back, because we don't make two errors in a row. I had total faith the defense would pick me up when they had to."

Smith, who leads the conference in runs batted in, also contributed at the plate. He drove in three runs on two hits.

In Allen Coor's first at-bat, Coor hit a long fly ball down the line and stood at the plate, assuming it would go foul or over the fence. It did neither and landed at the base of the fence in fair territory, and Coor ended up with just a single.

Coor was at third with two outs, and Smith drove him in, saving the senior from catching a little bit of flack.

"He insists he thought it was foul," Smith said. "We all gave him a hard time about that one ... The (guys at the top of the order) make it easy to drive in runs because they're on base so often."

Coor hit a triple in his next at-bat. He finished with two hits and two RBI.

Walking off the field, Gators coach Heath Whitfield was met by his mother and father and embraced them each with a hug.

Whitfield's father, Doyle, is one of the most well-known coaches in the area, and in 1985 Heath and Doyle got to win a state championship together. This win brought back those memories.

"You know, I got to win a state championship with him, and now I've got to win a conference championship with my son and it's just a really good feeling and really good memories are being made."

Crumpler, a first-year head coach, is another disciple of Doyle Whitfield's. For Heath Whitfield, playing against coaches who went to the same school of baseball as him, is always fun.

"We know a lot of what they're going to do," Heath Whitfield said. "More importantly we know they're going to play the game right and that's what makes it good."