High School Sports
Email
Print
Black Knights down Spartans
Strong bullpen work helps North Davidson advance to 4-A regional finals
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: May 27, 2009
On a night when the aces weren't living up to their billing, Joe Tippett of North Davidson was more than willing to fill the bill.
Tippett, using effective arm angles and off-speed pitches, limited Mount Tabor to a run and three hits over the final 6 1/3 innings as North hammered the Spartans 14-5 in a regional semifinal of the 4-A baseball playoffs last night.
Tippett, a junior right-hander, relieved North ace Zach Joyce with one out in the first after Joyce surrendered a grand slam to Bradley Morton of Mount Tabor. And Tippett went on to strike out 11 Spartans -- including three times with the bases loaded.
Freshman Landon Lassiter also made a big impact, hitting a late grand slam and finishing with seven RBIs, and Joyce pitched in with what turned out to be the game-winning two-run homer as North (14-11) advanced to the best-of-3 semifinal series for the second time in four seasons.
North will play at home on Thursday night in the first game of the series against the winner of last night's Charlotte Ardrey Kell-South Caldwell game.
Mount Tabor, which beat North twice during the regular season and had never advanced to the quarterfinals, finished 17-7.
Coach Mike Meadows of North said that he struggled on whether to start Joyce or Tippett, but moved quickly to get Joyce off the mound after the grand slam.
"The thing about it, it's not a very big park," Meadows said. "When you have guys that throw hard, and he is a power pitcher and gives up a lot of fly balls, I was really worried about that short right field.
"With Tippett, it's just hard to hit. He doesn't walk people, he makes you swing the bat, it's a little unorthodox and he's pitched great for us. If we were playing in a big ballpark where we could run down some fly balls, Joyce is it. We almost turned him into a breaking baller because we took his fastball away and that's our fault."
Parker Thomas, Mount Tabor's 6-5 right-hander who has signed with North Carolina, gave up five hits and five earned runs through two innings and was pulled for reliever Garrett Hickman. Hickman did a credible job, and the score was tied at 5 before Joyce lined a two-run homer to right in the fourth that gave North the lead for good at 7-5.
Lassiter helped add to the lead with a two-run single in the sixth that made the score 9-5, and his grand slam in the seventh -- which came off Mount Tabor's other ace, Mat Batts -- sealed the win.
Meanwhile, Tippett cruised, using an occasional drop-down, sidearm pitch that often served as a change-up, struck out Joey Kahler with the bases loaded in the fourth, and struck out Kahler and Morton with the bases.
Coach Mike Lovelace of Mount Tabor said he pulled Thomas after two innings because he was having trouble throwing strikes, and he had seen Tippett baffle his team once before this season.
"Joe Tippett threw strikes, kept us off balance and they did the things they needed to do," Lovelace said.
"He did it to us the last time and we were fortunate enough to get away winning 2-1. He keeps you off balance and works away, away, away and throws three pitches for strikes. And when he needed to throw big pitches I thought he did.
"They found a way and hats off to hem. They have done it throughout the whole playoffs and they have continued to get better each game."
Meadows joked with his team that they were the worst team playing in the regional finals.
"They are the loosest bunch of kids and they are having fun so I won't throw them back," Meadows said. "We are tickled to death.... This round here, we don't get out of our routine to play Mount Tabor. It's like a conference game."
■ Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.
N. Davidson 230 202 5 -- 14 11 1
Mount Tabor 401 000 0 -- 5 5 1
Joyce, Tippett (1) and Sullivan. Thomas, Hickman (3), Simpson (6), Batts (7), Nunn (7) and Vogler. WP – Tippett. LP – Hickman. 2B – Tippett (ND), Slate (ND), Dawson (MT). HR – Morton (MT), Joyce (ND), Lassiter (ND).
Email
Print
