Baseball Edges Barton on Ninth-Inning Comeback

SALISBURY, NC -- Ethan Satterfield (Madison, NC/McMichael HS) hit a high chopper down the third-base line that plated Brett Underwood (Greensboro, NC/SW Guilford HS) in the bottom of the ninth to give Catawba a 4-3 come-from-behind victory against Barton Wednesday night at Newman Park. The Indians improve to 30-8 overall while the Bulldogs drop to 12-23.

Catawba entered the ninth inning down 3-2 from a solo home run by the Bulldog’s Ryan Daughtry in the eighth off Indian reliever Clay Watson (Lexington, NC/N. Davidson HS).

Justin Morris (Salisbury, NC/E. Rowan HS) was a pinch-runner for Danny Parisi (Shirley, NY/Longwood HS), who walked earlier, and later scored the tying run off a Ryan Bostian (Kannapolis, NC/S. Rowan HS/Montreat) SAC fly. Underwood, who singled to left, advanced to third on the play to set up the dramatic finish.

Winning pitcher JJ Jankowski (McMurray, PA/Peters Township HS/Miami, OH) improved to 9-0 as he came into the game in the ninth and quickly silenced Barton’s bats with a 1-2-3 inning. Mitchell Frazier took the loss for the Bulldogs as he gave up two runs on two hits in just two-thirds of an inning. 

The Indians’ first comeback of the evening came in the sixth when Cameron Beard (Conover, NC/Bunker Hill HS) singled to bring in Julio Zubillaga (China Grove, NC/Carson HS), which tied it at two runs apiece.

The Bulldogs got a run in the second and third frames from a single and a SAC fly to go ahead 2-0. Craig Brooks (Monroe, NC/Parkwood HS) responded in the Indian third inning blasting his fourth homer of the season to cut the lead in half.

Nate King (Vancouver, WA/Skyview HS/NC State) came in for starting pitcher John Tuttle (Kannapolis, NC/A.L. Brown HS) in the fourth inning and threw three-and-a-third innings of solid relief for Catawba. He allowed no runs or hits and fanned three batters.

Catawba was outhit 8-6 by the Bulldogs with no Indian having more than one hit.The Indians stranded nine base runners.
 
The Indians travel to Greeneville, TN on Friday for a weekend series with Tusculum in a clash for first place in the South Atlantic Conference. Game time is set for 6 p.m.