Thursday, March 11, 2010 — Timeouts happen often in the game of baseball, but rarely do those stoppages in play have the impact of one that West Stanly called in the first inning of Tuesday’s 11-1 Rocky River Conference road win at North Stanly.

Zack Martin earned the complete-game victory for the Colts (3-0), allowing just one run on four hits with five strikeouts.

Jake Lowder took the loss for North Stanly (1-1), striking out three while walking five in 2.1 innings pitched.

In the bottom of the first, Gus Fesperman, Matt Huneycutt and Doug Stevens opened the game with three hits in a row.

Fesperman would score on Stevens’ single as the throw missed a cutoff man for the West defense.

Coach Lee’s emphasis during the timeout after those three hits was to get West Stanly to refocus on the little things.

“We had missed a sign and a cutoff man. I told them that we can’t control if the other team hits the ball out of the park, but we can control the things that we personally can do,” Lee said.

The pep talk worked as Martin would pick off Stevens at second base and get out of the inning.

In the top of the second, West played their signature aggressive small-ball offense, getting runners on and moving them around.

Catcher Zack Honeycutt drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game, then Martin laid down a perfect bunt down the first base line on a suicide squeeze.

Jace Whitley scored on the squeeze play when no one covered first for North, then in the commotion, Jeremy Lowder also came around to score.

In the top of the third,  Demetrius Ingram led off the inning with a line-drive blast over the right-field fence. Honeycutt would add a 2-RBI single as the Colts scored five in the frame.

Kevin Van Asch delivered an RBI double in the fifth, along with an RBI sacrifice fly from Ingram, and the Colts won the game with the 10-run rule with two in the sixth inning.

“You could call us the Princeton offense of baseball. We will put down bunts, steal bases and make other teams make the throws. I’m especially pleased how we fought back after they jumped on us. Our guys were pumped up to be playing on this field tonight,” Lee said.

“We have a lot of work to do in getting our players to understand a good work ethic. You have to play every game hard,” North head coach Mark Tucker said.

“These kids have been through three coaches in three years, and are working hard on learning a new system and situational plays. I told the players after the game that we have to work even harder than in the past.”

West will host Charlotte Christian in an endowment game tonight, while North travels to Union Academy on Friday.

WS    035    022        11    8    3

NS    100    000        1    4    1



WP - Zack Martin (7 IP, 1 R, 4 hits, 3 BB, 5 K).

LP - Jake Lowder (2.1 IP, 7 ER, 3 hits, 5 BB, 3 K).

Leading Hitters: WS - Zack Honeycutt 1-2, 3 RBI; Zack Martin 2-3, 2 RBI;  Taylor Fraley 2-4,  RBI; Dee Ingram 1-3, HR, 2 RBI. NS - Doug Stevens 1-3, RBI; Gus Fesperman 1-2, R.