COLUMBUS – In the group huddle after Tuesday’s 4-2 win over rival Caledonia in a Region 1-5A contest, New Hope let loose a series of cheers and shouts of joy as they gathered around for their postgame team chat.
Thanks to a quick flurry of scores in the second inning – and some mighty fine pitching of their own from Brayden Edmiston and his 10 strikeouts – the Trojans managed to get a win against Cavalier star pitcher Reid Garrett for the first time in four years, and that was more than enough cause to celebrate.
“It’s just a rivalry game,” New Hope head coach Lee Boyd said. “Our kids play travel ball with their kids; we know their coaches. We have buddies over there, they have buddies over here, so every time we play it’s always a big game, especially in the division. Half the community of Columbus is out here so you want to play well.”
Standing at 6-foot-6, Mt. Garrett had previously been impossible to summit for the Trojans (11-10, 2-3) for the last three years and early on in Tuesday’s game it looked as if nothing was going to change. Garrett kept the Trojans in check in the first inning and only allowed one hit on his way to three outs, but in the second frame New Hope found a crack in the seams and took advantage.
Cody Hollis belted a single to get on base and stole second on a wild pitch from Garrett. Carson Willis was walked, and Gage Price used a sacrifice bunt to get Hollis on third base. Another bunt toward third base by Drew Glenn sent Hollis home for the 1-0 lead.
With only one out remaining in the inning, Dalton Elmore stepped up and smacked a ground ball to Cavaliers second baseman Maddox Ruffin, who couldn’t get a hold on it and missed on his throw to first base. The error allowed Glenn and Price to triumphantly race across home plate for the 3-0 lead.
“We put some hard ground balls in play and we were fortunate to take advantage of an error at second base, but yeah, tough play,” Boyd said. “I felt like our approach was good. We were trying to stay short, (Garrett) has some giddy up. He has a good slider, a good changeup, a good curveball, man he’s tough. (We) were able to just put some balls in play and used the short game a little bit, too, used the bunting game in some spots and we were able to push a runner through.”
The Cavaliers (10-9, 3-2) responded in the top of the third with a sacrifice bunt of their own to get on the board. Jackson Dawkins put a ball in play to send home Cohen Clark to bring the Cavs some much-needed momentum. Garrett, a Liberty University commit, held back the Trojans in the bottom third with three outs though four batters faced, and New Hope’s Edmiston began to hit his stride on the mound with two strikeouts in the fourth. The Trojans found a run one last time in the fourth on an RBI single from Elmore to go up three runs and it seemed as if all was lost for Caledonia.
Then Garrett stepped up to the plate in the fifth and belted a solo homer over the centerfield fence to inject life back into the proceedings – but that would be it on offense for the Cavs. Edmiston rang up three straight batters in the sixth and added one more in the seventh along with a line out and a fly out to seal the Trojans’ win. Through all seven innings, Edmiston kept the Cavs to just five hits and two earned runs with only one walk as he struck out 10.
It was a phenomenal performance from a young pitcher who is just hitting his stride, Boyd said.
“He struggled until this year,” Boyd said. “We kind of knew going in that he had it in him and the past four or five outings he’s been great. I don’t know what his fastball was up to, but he was able to spot it some. He struggled to find his change up, he’s got a really good change up, but I thought his slider was tough. He was able to use that and put some hitters away late. Combine his fastball, which is probably low to mid 80s, with the hard slider – man that combination was good (Tuesday night).”
Edmiston said he knew he was in the midst of a good night of pitching pretty early on and was thrilled to finally topple Garrett and the Cavs.
“Once we got past the first couple in order, they fell off pretty bad and we put a lot of zeros up,” he said.
Garrett, who gave up six hits, two earned runs and walked two with six strikeouts, was replaced by Chandler Cobb on the mound in the the sixth inning to close out the game. It was a frustrating loss for Caledonia head coach Chase Reeves and his crew as their four-game win streak was abruptly halted.
“We kicked it around early, just routine stuff – can’t make a play, can’t execute anything we tried to do offensively and they took advantage of the mistakes,” he said. “Reid pitched really well, Chandler threw really well, we pitched it well, just offensively we have to execute and we didn’t do it.”
The Cavs will have one last time to get some payback on Friday when the two teams wrap up the series at 7 p.m. in Caledonia.
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