In a game with good defense and good pitching, Bay Area Christian prevailed in the bottom of the 7th inning picking up the only run they needed on a bases loaded ground ball to beat Cypress Christian 1-0 and advance to the Division III State Championship Game on Tuesday. The two teams had played each other three times earlier in the year with Cypress Christian winning all three. But Bay Area Christian won in the biggest matchup.
Neither team could get much offense going off of starting pitchers Jacob Newsom (Bay Area Christian) and Beckett Swinney (Cypress Christian). Both pitchers allowed just 1 hit in the game. Cypress Christian got a runner to 3B in the 1st inning but Newsom got a big strikeout to end the threat.
Bay Area Christian also benefitted from flawless defense including an outstanding grab by LF Jackson Lowry on a hard hit line drive by Brandon Williams.
Bay Area Christian brought in relief pitcher Peyton Ardoin in the 7th and he shut down Cypress Christian batters on 2 strike outs and a ground out.
With one out in the bottom of the 7th Coen Gonzales walked, advanced to 2B on a wild pitch and then to 3B on another wild pitch. Two more walks loaded the bases. Brooks Marsico came to bat and with the infield drawn in, hit a shot that bounced off the shortstop’s chest allowing Gonzales to score the winning run.
Newsom pitched 6 innings giving up only 1 hit on no runs, 5 walks and 6 strikeouts. He was named the THSB Division III Semifinal Game MVP.
“We’ve had close games with them in district,” Newsom commented. “We knew if we came in and played clean defense and put things together we could win this game.”
Bay Area Christian Head Coach Kyle Crowell added: “It was a great team win. Jacob Newsom pitched a great game and we had great defense. Jackson Lowry made a huge catch in LF. The defense kept us in the game. We’ve played them 3 times. We know how good of a team they are. We knew if we just kept fighting we would get a shot and the last inning we put some things together and made a play when we needed it.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |||
| Cypress Christian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Bay Area Christian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
