Connor Shirley stepped into the starting lineup due to injuries.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/Al Myatt)

Down two starters and trailing 3-0 after an inning at Fayetteville Christian on Thursday, the NCISAA 1-A Cape Fear Christian Academy varsity baseball team came back to top the 2-A Warriors, 9-6.

“One of the best wins I’ve been a part of at Cape Fear,” said Eagles coach Bill Parrish. “The boys showed a lot of heart.”

Parrish had to juggle his lineup with outfielder Conner Parrish and leadoff batter/shortstop Zeke Brock recovering from leg injuries.’
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“Our boys really showed up today and they all played at a very high level to make up for our two starters not being able to play,” said the CFCA coach.

CFCA scored four runs in the third inning with the help of a 2-run double by Fisher Stancil and a run-scoring single by junior Cole Godwin, who was 3-for-3 with three runs and three RBIs.

Godwin and Eli Burns each drove in runs in a 4-run sixth.

Cason Pope went 2-for-4.

Stancil, Burns and Pope pitched for the Eagles (5-1), who avenged their lone loss in the season opener.

Stancil started and went two innings with three strikeouts. Burns yielded one run in two innings with five whiffs.

Pope went to the mound in the fifth with a 5-4 lead and fanned seven over the last three innings.

Catcher Trevor McLamb had a big day defensively, throwing out a runner at second on a steal and tagging out a Warrior attempting to come home on a passed ball.

McLamb, Burns and Stancil each had hits.

The 1-A Eagles face another 2-A foe on the road, Greenfield, on Monday at 4 p.m.

Fisher Stancil started on the mound and had three of CFCA’s 15 strikeouts.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/Al Myatt)