WILSON, N.C. – The Barton baseball team (19-19) suffered its first loss in the 2021 Conference Carolinas Championship, 13-9, to Mount Olive (35-9) Saturday night at Fleming Stadium. The Bulldogs are the fifth seed in the tournament while the Trojans are the top seed.
Mount Olive, the fifth-ranked team in the nation, will play in the championship game on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. The Trojans will face the winner of No. 15 North Greenville (31-11) and Barton, who play earlier in the day at 1:00 p.m. The Crusaders are the second seed in the tournament.
Barton senior catcher
Brayden Olson (Spokane, Wash.) hit a three-run home run – his third round-tripper in as many days – to help the Bulldogs jump out to a 5-1 advantage heading to the bottom of the third inning but couldn't hold the lead. Barton senior outfielder
Travious Ford (Greenville, N.C.) and junior third baseman
Dylan Scaranda (Galloway, N.J.) both finished with two hits and two runs scored in the losing effort.
However, the Trojans fought back several times and eventually took the lead for good thanks to a five-run sixth frame. Mount Olive's Vito Patierno (Raleigh, N.C.) came through with the game-winning, RBI single.
The Trojans' Blake McLean (Pine Level, N.C.), Alan Alonso (Miami, Fla.) and Joe Mason (Morehead City, N.C.) all hit home runs for the Trojans, who won twice on Saturday to remain alive in the league tournament. Mount Olive defeated Erskine (23-20), 5-3, earlier in the day.
For Mount Olive, Austin Elliott (Alexander City, Ala.) improved to 2-0 after picking up the win while Justin Koehler (Trinity, Fla.) pitched a scoreless final two innings to earn his second save of the year. Barton freshman
William Bryant (Raeford, N.C.) (0-2) was tagged with the loss.
