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Central hands Tigers first loss
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Published: April 14, 2009
Certainly Mount Pleasant was pleased to be undefeated coming into the Intimidators Classic.
But Central Cabarrus head coach Jim Knight has been just as happy about how his Vikings have performed so far this season.
The Vikings' 4-1 victory in a first-round game of the I's tourney Monday afternoon certainly did nothing to change that.
Dalton Shuford pitched a three- hitter and Davarren Hamilton hit an inside-the-park home run, sparking Central to a win over the previously perfect Tigers.
"Our rallying cry is we want to play Wednesday night at 7 (in the championship)," Knight said. "To do that we had to beat a beast. It's a big win because I've got a lot of respect for that team. They're tough."
Shuford retired the first 13 batters, allowed the only Mount run in the fifth inning and worked around two walks – his only of the game – in the seventh to close it out.
The righthander had nine strikeouts in the game, seven of them in the first four innings.
"He mixed his pitches well," Knight said. "He throws hard enough to keep people off balance but he did a great job of throwing that curveball for strikes."
At the plate, Shuford went 0 for 4 as Central's leadoff man, but Knight was especially pleased that he didn't let that hurt him on the mound.
"The mental toughness is something we've been talking about," Knight said. "So for him to be able to refocus when he didn't hit the way he normally does was something that's a real maturity step for him."
Mount (14-1) was coming off a big Rocky River Conference victory over West Stanly on Saturday, and also played without injured starters Matt Barrier and Grayson Atwood.
But Tigers' head coach Bryan Tyson used neither as excuses.
"(Saturday's game) was the one we had to win so we had to pitch (Garrett) Furr, but it shouldn't be a problem getting up for a game," he said. "It's baseball. We should be ready. They just pitched better than us today.
"Hopefully that will pay off down the road. If we're going to do anything in the playoffs we're going to have to hit pitching like that."
Central, meanwhile, totaled 10 hits against Mount starter Corey Huneycutt, scoring all four runs in the second and third innings.
The Vikings got on the board when Jesse Worley drew a leadoff walk and scored on a two-out RBI double to rightcenter by Ryan Watlington.
Hamilton's two-run homer then highlighted a three-run third.
After a one-out single by Mike Oxendine, Hamilton lined one into center. Mount's Andrew Carroll made a valiant diving attempt for the catch, but the ball got past him.
Oxendine scored and Knight waved the speedy Hamilton around third and he was able to score easily when the Tigers bobbled the relay.
"When he stays relaxed and doesn't overswing he's so strong," Knight said of Hamilton. "That time he was short and drove the ball and he runs real well too. So when that ball hit the ground I think everybody went 'oh my goodness, it's going to be a big inning.'"
After a walk and a wild pitch, Bailey Clark singled to left to make it 4-0.
Oxendine had three hits in the game, while Watlington and Zach Furr each had two.
All three of Mount's hits came in the fifth. An infield single by Huneycutt broke up Shuford's no-hitter. Evan Seymour followed with a single and Wesley Hammill singled down the left-field line for the RBI.
Shuford rebounded with a strikeout to get out of the inning and then retired Hammill on a flyout to shallow center with two on in the seventh.
Central improved to 8-4, including a 4-2 mark in the MECA Conference that has the Vikings tied for second place.
"Last year we were 3-8 at this point so that's a huge turnaround," Knight said. "I give a lot of credit to our captains and our senior class. They've done a great job."
Central will face Hickory Ridge in today's 4 p.m. semifinal. Mount Pleasant will play Concord at 10 a.m.
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