On Wednesday night, the Kingsmen welcomed the Hendersonville Honeycrisps to York Comprehensive High School for just their second home game of the season. It was a hot one––to say the least––with the first pitch temperature sitting at 90 degrees. Despite the heat, it was a nice day for a stroll around the bases––which is exactly what the Kingsmen did.
In the first inning, the Kingsmen offense batted around as they were hit by three pitches, drew three walks, and had two RBI knocks courtesy of Blake Bevis and Jack Austin. The team scored seven runs in the inning and continued the onslaught in the second. The offense tallied three more runs to the lead with the help of four walks and another hit by pitch.
While only having two hits, the Kingsmen led the Honeycrisps 10-0 after just two innings.
In the fifth inning, the offense added another run after Mikah Conner, who led off the inning with a double, scored on a Jack Davis infield hit. It would be the only run of the inning, giving the Kingsmen an 11-0 lead heading into the sixth.
Needless to say, the 11 run cushion was plenty for starting pitcher Caleb Cox. The lefty from North Greenville fired five innings of shutout baseball while allowing just two hits, one walk, and striking out six. The outing continued Cox’s strong summer where he has struck out 22 batters in 19.2 innings pitched.
Ryan Fluharty took over for Cox to begin the sixth, but immediately struggled with his command. After striking out the first batter of the inning, the righty allowed a base knock then walked the next four batters to give the Honeycrisps their first two runs of the game. Fluharty would exit with the bases loaded and just one out in the sixth.
Second out of relief for the Kingsmen was right-hander Nick George. The incoming freshman at Fairmont State pitched well, but allowed two of his inherited runners to score on a sac fly and double. The Kingsmen went down quietly in their half of the inning, but carried a seven run lead into the seventh.
George continued on the mound for the Kingsmen and picked up two strikeouts en route to a perfect seventh inning. In the bottom half of the inning, the Kingsmen offense woke up after falling asleep in the middle part of the game. Needing three runs to end the game by mercy rule, the Kingsmen got all three on four hits, a walk, and two stolen bases. The game ended after Darrien Whitaker chopped an RBI single over the first baseman’s head to score the 14th and game-winning run.
With the 14-4 win, the Kingsmen have now won four in a row heading into a scheduled off day on Thursday. The team will be back in action on Friday as the Kingsmen will welcome the Catawba Valley Stars to York Comprehensive High School for a 6:30 pm start.
Stay tuned for more Kingsmen Baseball news and updates as the summer rolls on.
Caleb Cox Postgame Interview:
Coach Joe Hudak Postgame Interview:
