WILSON, N.C. – The Barton baseball team (24-24, 14-16) lost both games of a Conference Carolinas doubleheader to fifth-ranked North Greenville (41-8, 25-5) Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale at Nixon Field. With the sweep, the Crusaders clinched the outright league regular season title.
Game One – North Greenville 10, Barton 3
The Crusaders were powered by five home runs in the victory. Five North Greenville players hit round-trippers on the day: Marek Chlup (Cesky Dub, CZECH REPUBLIC), Zach Zarra (Bethpage, N.Y.), Cory Bivins (Haddock, Ga.), John Michael Faile (Boiling Springs, S.C.) and Pat Monteith (Charleston, S.C.).
Trailing by a 3-1 score in the fourth inning, Chlup's two-run home run tied the contest at three before Zarra came through with a two-run dinger of his own which proved to be the game-winner.
For Barton, freshman catcher
Chase Waddell (Wilson, N.C.) finished with two hits and two runs batted in while sophomore outfielder
Raymond Paniagua (Blue Springs, Mo.) also drove in a run in the losing effort. On the mound, North Greenville's Reece Fields (West Columbia, S.C.) improved to 9-1 with the win while Barton senior
Jared Davis (Poquoson, Va.) fell to 5-5 after taking the loss.
Game Two – North Greenville 8, Barton 5
North Greenville's Pat Monteith (Charleston, S.C.) hit the game-winning two-run single in the fourth inning while Josh Senter (Lexington, S.C.) added the Crusaders' sixth home run on the day – a two-run round-tripper in the seventh frame – as the Crusaders completed the sweep.
Paniagua hit an RBI double and senior first baseman
Colby Warren (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) totaled two runs scored and two hits in the losing effort for the Bulldogs.
North Greenville's Nate Roof (Lexington, S.C.) improved to 2-0 on the season after earning the victory in relief while Dawson Taylor (Boiling Springs, S.C.) pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his first save of the year. Barton sophomore
Tanner Halvorson (Eau Claire, Wis.) (2-4) was tagged with the loss.
Barton and North Greenville will both compete in the 2022 Conference Carolinas Championship which begins on Wednesday, May 4, at historic Fleming Stadium in Wilson, N.C. Barton is serving as the host institution. The league office will release the standings this weekend. The Bulldogs will be the eighth seed in the tournament and will take on fifth-seeded Erskine (28-20) on Wednesday beginning at 7:00 p.m.
