Edmonds Pitches Northland Christian to State Championship Game

TAPPS DIVISION 3 STATE SEMIFINAL

Luke Edmonds pitched a 2 hitter with 11 strikeouts and the Northland Christian offense got 10 hits to propel Northland Christian to a 4-2 win over Holy Cross and a berth in the TAPPS Division 3 State Championship game on Saturday. Northland Christian will play the winner of the Pantego Christian and McKinney Christian Academy Semifinal contest.

Northland Christian got on the board first in the top of the 2nd inning. After a Garrett Hardwick walk and a Joshua Turner single, Ayden Davis bunted and the throw to first base sailed wide. Both Hardwick and Turner scored on the error and Davis made it all the way to third. With one out, Cy Taylor hit an infield single that scored Davis giving Northland Christian a 3-0 lead.

Holy Cross got one of the runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Ryan Cabrera was hit by a pitch and awarded first base. Courtesy runner Aiden Oilerbidez advanced to 2nd on a passed ball and then scored on a Christian Viesca single to cut the lead to 3-1.

Holy Cross picked up another run in the bottom of the 4th. Steven Roberts hit a ground ball and was safe on first on a throwing error. Roberts made it all the way to 3rd on the error and then scored on a passed ball to cut the lead to 3-2. But Northland Christian picked up a run in the top of the 5th. Tyler Bienko walked and then scored on a double by Davis, moving it back to a 2-run ball game, 4-2.

Now it was up to starting pitcher Luke Edmonds. Northland Christian took the 4-2 lead into the bottom of the 7th and Edmonds had only 9 pitches left. He had been dominating all game giving up only 2 hits while striking out 10. Edmonds hit the first batter in the 7th and struck out the second batter. With just one out, and pitch count up to 107, it looked like Edmonds would not finish the game. However, he got a ground ball to 2nd baseman Blake Stafford who turned the double play to end the game.

Edmonds was chosen as the THSB MVP of the Game.

“I knew I had to just throw strikes and trust my stuff today,” Edmonds commented. “It came down to executing and getting ahead in the count and I was able to do that in most innings. I really wanted to finish the game. And I knew I would have to get a double play on the last batter. And we did.”

Head Coach Carson Lee had this to say: “We had a game plan to execute and we executed it well. Getting 10 hits. Playing small ball. And when you have Luke on the mound it gives you a sense of security. And he was unbelievable out there today. Now it’s time to bring it home. This team has been here three years and have not gotten over the hump. Now it’s time to go the mountaintop.”