Big upset in game one of the Colt Baseball Tournament

High Point Central 9
Northeast Guilford 8

WP:Seth Beane

In what might be one of the biggest upsets in Greensboro Colt Baseball history, High Point Central, the #13 and dead last seed in the entire tournament field, upset Northeast Guilford 9-8 on Friday night, at War Memorial Stadium…..

Coach Morgan and Coach Allen’s Bison had not won a game all season until last night….HPC was (0-13) during the Colt Baseball regular season. Central did win one game, over Southern Guilford, but they had to borrow three players just to have enough men to take the field on that night, so even though they topped SG 15-5 on the scoreboard, they still had to forfeit the game to Southern…..

Last night was an official win for the Bison and Seth Beane made it official, by going the distance on the mound for HPC….Excellent work by Beane, and a great show of character by the Bison nine,(They only had nine last night, just enough to take the field.), as Central was up 6-2 and they led 8-4, before NEG came back to tie the game at 8-8, in the bottom of the 6th inning….

Central needed a run and they got that run, when Manny, I think it was, crossed the plate to push the Bison back in front, 9-8, in the top of the seventh….

We move to the bottom of the 7th and NEG has to get a run and they get base runners, but HPC gets what might be the biggest defensive play in their baseball lives…..With runners on and a man headed toward the plate, to tie the game back up, there is a ground ball that got runner moving and on the ground ball throw, the ball comes across the diamond from the left side of the infield and the throw to first, is up the line toward home……But wait, Kendrick, the High Point Central first baseman, grabs the throw, realizes he can’t get to the bag in time, and he puts on the swipe tag to get the runner for out #3 and the game is over…..

High Point Central wins, HPC wins, the Bison win and Kendrick just called for a one-hour special tonight on Greensborosports.com TV to talk about the play…..Kendrick looked like Forrest Whitaker, from Good Morning Vietnam, over there at first base. Having a great time, but making a serious play that ended the game, in favor of High Point Central….

But there were others last night, that showed up and helped HPC get their first victory of the year, in what again, might be the biggest upset win in the history of Greensboro Colt Baseball……

The Bison, who came in at (0-13) after the regular season, are now (1-0) in the post-season and it is all because of guys like Kendrick, Seth Beane, Manny, Daniel, Will Johnson, Luke Beane, Mr. Hendrix, Fenney behind the plate, and #11 at third base….And let’s not forget Coach Morgan and Coach Allen, who have stayed the course with this Central bunch through the bad times and now the good times have finally come…..

That is most of the story on how an (0-13) team, went to (1-0) in the course of just one night, in Round One of the Greensboro Colt Baseball Tournament at War Memorial Stadium….

Round One continues todat at WMS and High Point Central has advanced to play in Round Two on Sunday….

*****I had a very nice conversation, after the game, with one of my former students, Craig Cannady, whose son Calaen Cannady, plays for the Northeast Guilford team….Great to see Craig after several years and he has super family, that loves NEG baseball and they are currently waiting to see if Calaen made one of the three post-season All-Star teams…..Good job Craig with a beautiful wife and fine son in Calaen Cannady……*****