The Bethlehem Christian Academy baseball team finally met its match in Class A this spring.
The Wildcats faced defending state champion Crisp Academy Friday in the GISA Class A semifinals and were swept 6-1 and 9-7. Those games marked the first time in 2012 that BCA lost to a fellow Class A opponent.
While disappointing that his team won’t be playing for a state championship in its first full season of varsity play, Knights coach Nick Pou said BCA put up a battle.
“This will be great experience for us next year,” said Pou. “We had some good at-bats today. You don’t see a pitcher throwing 92 a lot in our region or in high school for that matter. I am very proud of our players. They understand everyone is coming back and we should be ready to challenge again next spring. It’s still disappointing, however, that we didn’t make it this year. I don’t think they are a better team than us.”
BCA went with junior Jared Martin in the opener while Crisp Academy countered with James Bodrey. After two scoreless innings, the visiting Wildcats took a 3-0 lead.
Nick Culpepper singled and advanced to second on a throwing error. After a pop out to left field and a strike out by Martin, Culpepper moved to second on a wild pitch.
Jordan Howard then walked and stole second. That set up Robbie Wright’s single to left field which scored Culpepper for the first run of the series.
Howard scored after Bodrey reached on an error and Wright would score the third run of the inning on a single from Hunter Chambers.
BCA answered with one run in the bottom of the third when Steve Curtis scored when Crisp Academy was unable to get Niko Mailloux out between first and second on a pickoff play.
Hunter Cook added a two-run single for Crisp Academy in the top of the fifth to give the Wildcats a 5-1 advantage.
The final run came in the top of the seventh when Chambers singled home Corey Stewart who was a courtesy runner for Bodrey.
Martin worked until the sixth inning for BCA before Jordan Fountain finished the final two frames. Martin recorded six strikeouts but struggled somewhat with control walking five.
Bodrey was strong for Crisp Academy in the opener as the lefty struck out 10 batters and limited the power BCA offense to just five hits.
“He (Bodrey) is a good one,” Pou said. “He was crafty out there.”
Needing a win in the second game to keep the series alive, the Knights erased a 1-0 deficit in the top of the third (BCA was designated home team in game two) with four runs.
Ben Morgan scored when Mailloux reached on an error. Curtis also scored when Mailloux stole second.
Martin delivered a two-run double which scored Mailloux and Fountain.
However, Crisp Academy seemed to have too much potential throughout the lineup and would score two runs in the third, four in the fourth and two more in the sixth to eventually emerge with a 9-7 win to sweep the series.
BCA added two more runs in the top of the fifth to get within 7-6 at the time. Mailloux drove in Curtis for the first run of the inning and later scored himself on a single by Martin.
In the seventh with the Knights down to their final at-bat, Martin delivered another RBI bringing Mailloux home but that would be as close as they could get.
Rush Brown was the game two starter for Crisp Academy and worked five innings before Howard was called in. Brown struck out four of the first six batters he faced.
Mailloux started the second game Friday for BCA but lasted only three innings.
“I am proud of our team,” Pou said. “For a first-year varsity program to accomplish what it did is something to be proud of. It’s all on account of the hard work these players put in. We constantly focused on doing the small stuff right. We showed heart in the second game by battling back.”
