South Caldwell pitcher

holds off Watauga rally
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Watauga baseball coach Pete Hardee knows that whenever his Pioneers face South Caldwell ace Jimmy Messer, they have to score runs whenever the opportunity knocks. The same can be said for South’s second pitcher Cody Penny.

The Spartans’ other hard-throwing right-hander limited Watauga to four singles in South Caldwell’s 4-1 victory in the finals of the Northwestern 4-A Conference Tournament Saturday at M.S. Deal Stadium. South Caldwell (21-1), ranked No. 1 in North Carolina and ranked No. 9 nationally by USA Today, won the tournament for the fourth straight time.

Watauga (16-10), which reached the finals for the fist time since 2003, turns its attention to the state 4-A playoffs. The Pioneers host Harding, a Charlotte team from the Queen City Conference, a 3-A/4-A league.

Last year, Watauga beat Berry Academy 11-0 in the first round of the playoffs, but fell to Crest in the second round.

“We battled and we told our kids that as well as we’ve hung in there with the No. 1 team in North Carolina, and there’s no question in my mind that they are, it gives us a lot of hope in the playoffs that we can make a good run,” Hardee said.

Chances are the Pioneers won’t face anybody who throws as hard as either Penny or Messer Friday night. Penny, who drove in two runs with a single in the first inning, struck out 11, but walked three, including Ethan Moyer in the seventh. That free pass scored Kyle Miller, giving the Pioneers their only run of the game. Cal Hardee grounded out to second base to end the threat.

“We got him bases loaded and he’s walked a few people and we let him off the hook by swinging at the first pitch,” Pete Hardee said. “It’s youth and inexperience and we’ll learn from that. But you never know. He thought he had a good pitch to swing at and he’s a good hitter for us, so I trust his judgment.”

Penny was named co Most Valuable Player of the tournament with Messer, who threw a one-hitter in South Caldwell’s 6-0 win over Alexander Central Friday.

“When everything is working, he’s tough,” South Caldwell coach Jeff Parham said of Penny. “He did well enough on the mound tonight to give us a chance to win.”

Penny put the clamps on Watauga’s offense early by striking out the first Pioneers he faced. Austin Story broke Penny’s perfect game with a single to start the third inning, and Miller reached base when South right fielder Zac Greer could not hold on to a bloop just beyond the infield.

Story was left at second base, as was Baine Martin in the fourth after he reached base on an error and second on a walk to Trey Lowder. The only time Penny got into trouble was in the seventh when, after back-to-back singles by Tyler Moore and Lowder, he walked Miller with two outs to load the bases.

Penny, who threw 96 pitches (66 strikes), walked Moyer to drive in Lowder, but then got Hardee, who was looking for a fastball, but was thrown a curve that he swing at, to ground to second to end the game.

“Teams like that, you’ve got to get ahead of them quickly,” Cal Hardee said. “When we beat them, we got ahead of them first. It’s hard to play when your back’s to the wall, with the pitching they’ve got. You’ve got to start off strong.”

Penny’s RBI single in the first inning off Moyer, Watauga’s starter, gave the Spartans a 2-0 lead. Hardee blamed himself for not intentionally walking Penny and, instead, pitching to Spencer Smith.

Smith, the sixth batter in the order, struck out three times against the Pioneers.

“I was kicking myself for not intentionally walking Penny,” Pete Hardee said. “We knew that was a situation where there was a great hitter up and a lesser hitter on deck. We decided to pitch around him and as it turned out, we left one out over the plate. That’s my fault for not intentionally walking him. We could have saved ourselves two runs — probably, based on what the next hitter did.

“But you never know. He might crack a base hit. When you play the No. 9 ranked team in the country, you can’t afford to make mistakes as a coach and a player.”

South scored two more in the third inning on an RBI single by Cody Prestwood and a bases-loaded walk to Dalton Hall, who got a free pass from relief pitcher Moore.

South Caldwell 4, Watauga 1
Watauga 000 000 1 — 1 4 1
South Caldwell 202 000 X — 4 5 1
Moyer, Moore (3) and Church. Penny and Chavis. W—Penny (7-0), L—Moyer (2-3). LOB—Watauga 7, South Caldwell 4 SH—Watauga, Wallace. SB—South Caldwell, Dibernardi. CS—South Caldwell, Prestwood. HBP—South Caldwell, Dibernardi (by Moyer).