By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
CENTRE – Wednesday is a big day for Cherokee County High School senior baseball pitcher Ben Elsberry. After battling back from a serious car accident, he’s signing a baseball scholarship with Southeastern Baptist College in Laurel, Miss.
But Tuesday was also a pretty big day for Elsberry.
Warrior head coach Josh Decker handed him the ball to start on the mound in the first game of a crucial best-of-three Class 4A, Area 12 series against White Plains.
Elsberry didn’t disappoint. He allowed just three runs on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts in the Warriors’ 11-3 victory.
Elsberry got stronger as the game wore on. He gave up a run in the top of the first inning and two more in the third, but threw four consecutive scoreless innings to close out the contest.
“You get in your groove and you just don’t take anything off of it, just trust the guys behind you,” Elsberry said. “Having a good defense makes things 10 times easier. The guys in the field backed me up – Carson (Tittle), Case (Hill), everybody. (Aiden) Bobbitt behind the plate. They all did their job.”
“Today he came in and battled through some tough stuff in the front half of the game, but he really settled in and found his groove later on,” Decker said. “I couldn’t be prouder of that kid with everything he’s been through. He’s the epitome of what we’re trying to build here.”
The Warrior offense made sure Elsberry had plenty of room for error. The unit provided him a pair of runs to work with in the bottom of the first, six more in the third, and three more in the fifth.
“It’s very easy to walk out there and it’s 8-3 (in the bottom of the third),” Elsberry said. “It kind of gives you that leeway. Again, you just get in a groove and keep going. They hit the ball and I couldn’t ask for anything better.
Parker Wilson led the Warriors at the plate by going 3-for-4 with a run and four RBIs. Bobbitt went 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs. Evan Hill was also 2-for-3 with a walk and a run.
Adam Griffith doubled, walked twice and scored three runs. Nate Black had a hit, three walks, three runs and a RBI. Case Hill had a hit, a run and a RBI. Tittle added a hit and a run. James Hunter finished with a hit and a RBI.
“We talk about approach and talk about execution,” Decker said. “It was up and down from inning to inning throughout the game. We had two huge bunts that were for hits. We were able to move runners a little bit and got a little bit more comfortable. It goes back to we were sticking to our approach at the plate. We were sticking to what we prepared for yesterday.”
Luke Richardson led the Wildcats at the plate by going 2-for-3. Ashton Wallace and Crew Martin both managed to go 1-for-2. Aiden Kilgore finished 1-for-4.
Kilgore also suffered the loss after working 4 1/3 innings.
The two teams finish their series on Thursday in White Plains at 4:30 p.m.
“If we win one of those Thursday we’re in (the playoffs),” Elsberry said. “I feel like we’re ready. We’ve put in the work, All of our coaches have done everything they can to build us for this moment. We’re ready.”
