It was business as usual for Fox Creek baseball on Tuesday after an 11-2 win over Blacksburg.
With District 3 in the Class AA playoffs on the line, the Predators came back from two runs down to end the Wildcats' season.
“Being down 2-0 in the first inning and answering back with one run in the bottom of the first,” said head coach Roby Gillespie. “And then just finding a way to score runs almost every inning. Just answering back and just having that resiliency that we had throughout the whole game was huge for our program. And it’s what we've been doing all year. Just swinging the bat and making the routine team plays in the field.”
Fox Creek is undefeated in the playoffs and has scored double-digit runs in every game so far. The Predators have only allowed three runs in their three playoff games and with three pitchers taking the mound on Tuesday, the Wildcat couldn’t gain any momentum at the plate.
Will Fountain earned his eighth win of the season, pitching five innings with four hits, two runs and five strikeouts. He threw 71 pitches, 62% of which were strikes.
“We kept Will Fountain under 75 pitches, so he'll be good to go Saturday,” Gillespie said. “He's been our number two all year. He's 8-0 on the year now, so that's huge for us.”
After giving up two runs to lead off the game, Fox Creek responded by getting one run back before finding a groove at the plate. Hank Greene and Will Frischmann got on base in almost every at-bat they took on Tuesday.
Frischmann led the team with three RBI and three hits in four at-bats while not striking out. Greene finished with a similar line, no strikeouts with three hits in four plate appearances and one RBI. He also brought in three of Fox Creek’s 11 runs.
Lawson Lewis and Jackson Wright continued putting pressure on Blacksburg on the bases, being two of five players to steal bases to put themselves in better scoring positions. The Predators have capitalized on stolen bases to force errors all year.
“Just continuing to be aggressive on the bases,” Gillespie said. “That's one of our three Bs in baseball is base running, barrels, and bunts. And we did a good job of that tonight. Just applying pressure on the other team and making them make plays.”
Andrew Dorries took over for Fountain on the mound going into the sixth inning, striking out one with one walk. Devin Hillary, who was playing at first base and drew two walks throughout the night, closed the game out in the seventh.
“He struggled a little bit, but he came straight from first base, didn't even get to warm up at all,” Gillespie said. “So he ended up finding it and doing his job right there, getting three outs for us.”
Fox Creek travels for the first time in the playoffs to face Gray Collegiate Academy, which won District 4, on Thursday as a part of the Upper State championship bracket. The War Eagles are 29-6 and finished Region 4-AA undefeated in the regular season.
The Predators will have ace Bradly Anderson, who recently committed to the University of South Carolina, on the mound.
“We're looking forward to that,” Gillespie said. “Just going off of his leadership that he brings us on the mound, his fighting, his drive. And hopefully, we keep swinging the bats like we are right now and just keep producing runs on offense.”
