McGrath & Potts Work Classic; Mustangs Advance

Cuthbertson  1 Myers Park   2

Myers Park hosted Cuthbertson in the 3rd Round of the NCHSAA State Playoffs.  A packed crowd was treated to a classic pitching dual between each club's Ace.

Luke McGrath worked 8 innings, striking out 10 and only giving up 1 hit for the Mustangs.  Matched right up to the end, Cavs ace Tristan Potts went 7.1 innings, giving up 3 hits and striking out 7.

Myers Park got on the board in the 2nd inning.  Daniel Shuta led the inning off by getting hit by a pitch.  After a SAC Bunt and a line out, Bo Aluise delivered a 2 out single, scoring Shuta.  The game was halted for just over an hour shortly after the run scored, due to lightening in the area.  When the teams returned to the field, the pitching took over. 

McGrath gave up an unearned run in the top of the 5th on a two out single by Ty Fratarolli.  On the line drive to center, Mustangs Center Fielder dove, missing the ball and allowing it to get past him.  Fratarolli advanced to 3B while Ryan Greenspan scored from 1B.  McGrath induced a soft line out to center to end the threat.

With both aces nearing their pitch counts as the 8th inning started, McGrath made quick work of Cuthbertson, getting a ground ball, line drive, and strikeout on 14 pitches.  In the bottom of the 8th, Max Schmidly reached on a 1 out single.  Thomas Jones worked to move him into scoring position with a bunt.  The bunt was misplayed at 1B, allowing Jones to reach.  With two on, Ike Schmidly hit a hard ground ball to the right of the Cavs SS, who worked to play the ball off his right side.  The ball got through, scoring Max from 2B and giving the Mustangs a ticket to the 4th round.

Cuthbertson ends their year at 17-12 overall.  Myers Park will head to TC Roberson for a rematch of last year's 4th round game in the 4A Tournament.

Cuthbertson Stats
+ Ryan Greenspan - 0-2, BB, R
+ Ty Fratarolli - 1-3
+ Tristan Potts - Loss, 7.1IP, 3H, 2R, 1ER, 0BB, 7K

Myers Park  Stats
+ Sapp - 1-3
+ Bo Aluise - 1-3, 1RBI
+ Max Schmidly - 1-3, 1R
+ Luke McGrath - Win, 8IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 10K