Christian Life Prep Gets Good Start and Big Finish, Beats Bethesda Christian 11-1

Christian Life Prep started strong and finished strong, beating Bethesda Christian 11-1 in a 5-inning run rule. The Knights will meet Shiner St Paul in the Division V State Championship Game on Saturday at 1:00 PM.

Christian Life Prep put 3 runs on the board to start the game. Cayden Beard doubled and later scored on an errant throw to first base. Caleb Turner also scored on an errant throw on a Michael Tarpley ground ball. Gregory Tarpley then hit an RBI single that scored Michael Tarpley to give Christian Life Prep an early 3-0 lead.

Bethesda Christian got one run back in the bottom of the 1st. Cason Clagg singled and then scored all the way from first on an errant throw on Chris Gonzales’ bunt, cutting Christian Life’s lead to 3-1.

Christian Life Prep picked up another run in the 4th on three walks with Caleb Turner scoring on a wild pitch. After a scoreless 5th, Christian Life Prep erupted for 7 runs. They picked up a couple of runs on errors and got RBI doubles from Hank Haentsch, William Turner and Robert Matteson as well as a Sac Fly from Kaison Hobbs making the score 11-1.

William Turner came in to pitch in the bottom of the 5th. He got a ground out, a caught stealing and a fly out to complete the victory.

Caleb Turner was the winning pitcher. He pitched 4 innings, giving up 1 unearned run on 1 hit with 2 BB and 9 K. At the plate he was 2-3 with a walk and scored 3 times. He was named the THSB Division V State Semifinal Game MVP.

“Last year we did not do as well,” Turner commented. “So we were fired up and ready to get redemption. I knew we had the bats coming in and once we got them going I knew we would win this game.”

Christian Life Prep Head Coach Joshua Mackey talked about the game: “We knew they had a good pitcher so were trying to get good ABs and get the pitch count up there so we could get into the bullpen. I knew if we could get deep into the game and get our bats going we were capable of doing what we did tonight.”