BURLINGTON–Carter Warren’s name won’t be in the box score for Friday night’s game.
But it should be.
With Cedar Ridge clinging to a two-run lead in the sixth inning against Williams, Warren moved from centerfield to right field after Quinn Finnegan replaced Hudson Kelly on the mound. With runners at 1st and 2nd, Williams’ Will Allen lined a first-pitch fastball to the right field gap.
Warren had barely got his cleats in place at his new position before he had to make a move that may decide the game. As the ball soared closer to wall, he reached up with his glove hand and snagged the hardest hit ball of the night.
Williams’ baserunners frantically moved in opposite directions. Vince Coker lunged back to first and got back safely. But it was too late for Charlie Smith, who was a step away from third base by the time Warren made the catch. Grant McGuffey took Warren’s throw from right field and tossed it to Jesus Valezquez for the easy double play.
It was the biggest defensive play as Cedar Ridge completed a two-game sweep of Williams 3-1 on Friday night. For the first time since the two teams became league rivals in 201, Cedar Ridge swept a series from the Bulldogs.
Hudson Kelly earned his first varsity win, allowing just one unearned run over five innings. Kelly also knocked in the go-ahead runs in the fifth inning with a liner to centerfield, scoring Noah Heckman and Grant McGuffey.
For the second year in a row, Cedar Ridge senior Quinn Finnegan earned the save at Williams. After Williams got Aidan Pullman and Liam Kerr Finger on board in the seventh inning off infield singles, Finnegan struck out Chris Gonzalez-Gomez and Cooper Rice to end the game.
Coker scored Williams’ only run when he reached off an error in the first inning. Rounding the bases with a passed ball and a groundout, Coker scored off an grounder to second by Angel Mora. Kelly limited the Bulldogs to one hit over the first five innings.
John Grove reached on an error at second base with one out in the fourth inning. Heckman replaced Grove as a courtesy runner. Grant McGuffey lined a double to the left field gap, sending Heckman to third. Kelly drove a liner to left field, which bounced away from Williams’ Jazion Bigelow and came to a rest just shy of the fence, allowing Heckman and McGuffey to score standing up.
Cedar Ridge (3-5, 2-0 in the Central Conference) will start a two-game series against Person in Roxboro on Tuesday.