Spartans take Easter tournament

Cody Poarch was unaware of the South Caldwell misfortunes the last two years in the Shelby Savings Bank Easter Tournament. Until early Thursday, that is. When he learned of the Spartans' Shelby struggles, it became the fuel for a stellar effort in the tournament final.

“That made me like 10 times more focused,” he said.

Poarch tossed a complete-game three-hitter and led South Caldwell to a 6-1 win over Kings Mountain to take the tournament title. South Caldwell (11-1 overall) had lost in the championship game each of the past two years - so while the Spartans had seen great success at the state level, one thing they had failed to do was win at Shelby over the Easter break.

“That's one thing we told them. It's something the '08 team could do,” South Caldwell coach Jeff Parham said. “We came in focused in Game 1 and Game 2, and then we took the championship tonight. I'm proud of them.”

Poarch's strong showing completed a three-day stretch of dominant Spartan pitching. In the opening round against tournament defending champion East Rutherford, South's Jimmy Messer tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts. In the second round, Cody Penny hurled a one-hit shutout against Burns, an effort that earned him top pitcher honors for the tournament. Poarch, who improved his record to 5-0, struck out five and allowed just one walk Thursday.

“The pitching staff did what we knew it could do,” Parham said. “They're working and getting better.”

Poarch had plenty of offensive support behind him, thanks to one explosive inning. With the game still scoreless, South scored six runs in the top of the fourth on four hits, three walks and two Kings Mountain errors. Twelve Spartans came to the plate, with Cody Prestwood, Tyler Dillard, Messer and Cody Reid all delivering key hits. The final two Spartan runs scored on one costly Kings Mountain error.

“That one inning will kill you,” Mountaineer coach Eric King said. “Good teams, you can't give them extra outs.”

The Spartans only had one hit before the offensive outburst.

Kings Mountain (6-5 overall) scored its lone run in the bottom half of the fourth inning, and even then, came away disappointed. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Poarch induced a run-scoring double play to stymie the rally. A shallow popout ended the threat with minimal damage.

The win was South Caldwell's fifth in a row.

“The guys are working hard,” Parham said. “I feel like on every pitch, we're focused.”

South's junior shortstop Dalton Hall reflected that focus with his work in the field. For his efforts, he was named the tournament's best fielder.

The Spartans take the field again Tuesday when they host A.C. Reynolds in Northwestern 4-A play.

Notes: King's Mountain's Rai Robinson earned best hitter honors for the tournamentŠPoarch relied on his changeup much more than usual Thursday. Instead of his typical frequency of once or twice per game, he threw the pitch upwards of 13 times in the final. “I just liked (the changeup) tonight,” he said.

Printer Friendly Version

E-mail this story to friend