Panthers trip up

Watauga late
By Steve Behr
 
CHARLOTTE — Providence centerfielder Tyler Zupcic will be Appalachian State’s gain in 2010 when he plays for the Mountaineers. Last Saturday, he represented Watauga’s loss.

After Watauga pushed a run across the plate to tie the Panthers in the top of the seventh inning, Zupcic belted a walk-off solo home run in the bottom half of the inning to lift Providence to a 6-5 victory over the Pioneers.

Zupcic, whose father, Bob, played with the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox and spent some time with the Charlotte Knights during his career, was the only Providence batter in the seventh inning. During Providence’s four-run fifth inning, he singled, stole second, and scored on a two-run double by CA Clayton.

“They swung the bat and we knew they would,” Watauga coach Pete Hardee said. “We missed out on some opportunities. We swung the bat well, but they played made good plays defensively. They had the big hit to end he game, but it was a good game all around.”

Watauga, which has back-to-back Northwestern 4-A Conference games Monday at home against Freedom and Tuesday at A.C. Reynolds, held a 4-1 lead before the Panthers scored four runs in the fifth inning. Trey Lowder delivered a two-run double in the top of the third inning to score Cal Hardee and Adam Church, and then watched from second base when David Martin scored on a Phil Gordon sacrifice fly.

Baine Martin added a solo home run in the fourth to put the Pioneers in front 4-0, but Providence answered with a solo shot by Brett Austin in the bottom half of the inning. Lowder tied the game 5-5 in the top half of the seventh with a sacrifice fly, driving in David Martin, who opened the inning with a single.

David Martin went 3-for-4 from the plate and scored two runs. Baine Martin added a first-inning single to his home run, but was left on third base when the Pioneers left the bases loaded.

“It was a fun game and they’re a good team,” David Martin said. “We’ll probably face them again in the playoffs and they’ll have their ace on the mound, so that should be a good game.”

Watauga ended up leaving nine runners on base, four in scoring position. Providence also got out of a tight spot in the fifth with a double play.

Cal Hardee pitched into the fifth inning, but gave way to Jake Wallace.

However, Wallace struggled by giving up three hits, and Will Littlejohn finished the game on the mound for the Pioneers.

Providence, which has a deep pitching staff, held its top three starters from the mound. Panthers starter Kyle Kessler went four innings and yielded to Zach McKelvey, who was forced to leave the game after a David Martin line drive hit him in the right ankle in the sixth inning.

Alex Askey finished the game for Providence.

The Pioneers turn their attention to Freedom, which plays a make-up game in Boone Monday night. The Patriots (7-10, 0-8 NWC) are winless in the conference and lost to Watauga 13-0 in Morganton. Freedom beat Draughn 14-1 last Tuesday, but was blasted 12-2 by East Burke in a non-confernece tournament game last Thursday.

Still, it’s a game that the Pioneers must take seriously, according to Hardee. The following day, Watauga plays at A.C. Reynolds (10-5, 4-5), whose losses are only to NWC teams.

Providence 6, Watauga 5
Watauga 003 100 1 — 5 11 0
Providence 000 140 1 — 6 8 2
Hardee, Wallace (5), Littlejohn (5) and Church. Kessler, McKelvey (5), Askey (7) and Lee. W—Askey (2-1), L—Littlejohn (1-1). LOB—Watauga 9, Providence 4. 2B—Watauga, Lowder; Providence, Clayton, Lee. HR—Watauga, B. Martin; Providence, Austin, Zupcic. SF—Watauga, Lowder, Gordon. SB—Providence, Zupcic, Smith, Dunn. Reached on CI—Watauga, Miller.