by Malcolm Butler
Cedar Creek picked up two more wins on the baseball diamond this week, defeating Evangel Christian 6-4 Tuesday and Arcadia 20-0 on Wednesday.
With the victories, the Cougars have won five straight games and sit at 10-11 overall on the season.
Creek 6, Evangel 4
The Cougars overcame a shaky start in defeating Evangel Christian behind a strong effort by junior Connor Yates in relief.
Evangel Christian took the early lead, scoring three runs in the top of the first against Creek starter Eli Slocum as three walks, two errors and only one hit led to the early deficit.
Cedar Creek answered with a single run in the bottom of the first on an RBI ground out by Brett Bell, scoring Kade Luker who led the frame off with a walk.
Evangel regained its three-run lead in the top of the second with another run, chasing Slocum from the game. Yates entered with no outs and two runners on base and registered back-to-back strikeouts to help end the frame.
“Connor came in and gave us a chance by pitching six innings of one-hit, shutout baseball,” said head coach Chad Yates. “It allowed us to crawl back into the game and eventually take the lead in the 4th.”
The Cougars scored two runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings to take a 5-4 lead. Brett Bell scored on bunt by Kaleb Negrotto with one out in the third. After a Ryan Coleman double, Micah Taylor scored on a double steal to make the score 4-3.
Luker led the bottom of the fourth off with a walk and scored on Yates triple to right field, tying the game at 4-4. Bell then doubled to right field, plating Yates with the go-ahead run.
“We had to battle back from a three-run Evangel first inning,” said Yates. “Eli Slocum started on the mound and struggled with command. So we made a pitching change in the 2nd down 4-1. I was proud of the way our guys fought their way back into it and didn’t give in.”
Yates continued to keep ECA at bay offensively, allowing just one hit and three walks while striking out seven over the final 6.0 innings of action.
The Cougars added an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI double by Taylor, scoring Aiden Crosby with two outs.
“Evangel pitched a sidearm guy at us that kept us off balance,” said Yates. “We were able to get their pen and was able to get some big hits from Yates, Bell, Coleman and Taylor.”
Yates (2-4, 1 run, 1 RBI), Bell (2-4, run, 2 RBI) and Taylor (1-2, run, RBI) led the Cougars offensively.
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Cougars 20, Arcadia 0
It took only three innings for the Cougars to pick up a District 1-1A victory Wednesday night against Arcadia.
Cedar Creek scored four in the first and then blew the game open with a 13-spot in the second as it coasted to its fifth straight win.
The offensive onslaught was highlighted by home runs from Brett Bell and Noah Smith (grand slam) and doubles by Yates, Wade and Negrotto as Cedar Creek recorded nine hits and capitalized on four Hornet errors.
Bell led the parade with two hits and three RBI while Smith added the grand slam home run. Yates (1-2, 2 runs, 2 RBI), Cason Floyd (1-1, 2 runs, RBI), Negrotto (1-1, run, 2 RBI) were also instrumental in the win.
JB Robinson pitched one scoreless inning while striking out three while Jax Doiron struck out six batters in his 2.0 innings of action.
“We were happy to get the win and push our win streak to five games,” said Yates. “We now have a few days before we host Ouachita Christian next Tuesday. We are going to take a couple of days off and reflect and reset. We were able to get everyone in the game which was good to see.”
