Cardinal Gibbons -- 1          Holly Springs -- 6

Cardinal Gibbons traveled to Holly Springs for a third-round showdown in the Eastern bracket of the 4A State Playoffs. Senior Patrick Trease got the start on the mound for Holly Springs. Trease set the tone early, commanding all 3 of his pitches in the 1^st, striking out the side.

Countering Trease was Cardinal Gibbons Senior Carter Holjes. The Golden Hawks applied pressure to the Crusaders early and often. In the bottom of the 1^st, Junior Sam Kulasingam beat out a chopper for an infield single. After Matt Willadsen lined out to CF, Kulasingam stole second. Holjes struck out 3 hole hitter Trease but the sharp breaking ball kicked away, advancing Kulasingam to 3B and allowing Trease to get to first. Junior Trevor Sheehan knocked in Kulasingam for the first run of the game with a sac fly to deep CF. With 2 outs, Trease stole 2B and scored a single by Junior catcher Michael Groves.

After both pitches put up zeros in the 2^nd, Cardinal Gibbons cut the lead in half in the 3^rd. With 1 out, Sophomore Nick Tubolino reached on an infield single deep in the hole to SS. The throw from short got away from Holly Springs first baseman Jayson Gross advancing Tubolino to 2B. With 2 outs, OF Dane Stewart lined a ball to left scoring Gibbons lone run of the game.

Holly Springs answered in the bottom of the 3^rd. After cutting down 1 run at the plate, Gibbons surrendered a two out RBI triple to Senior Jayson Arendt, extending the Holly Springs lead to 3-1. The home team continued to tack on in the 4^th when Sheehan drove in Trease with a single to left.

At 4-1 into the home half of the 5^th, Bryan Arendt got the Golden Hawks back on the board.  Arendt walked and scored on a double in the right-center field gap by Willadsen.

Jayson Arendt tacked on the last run for Holly Springs in the 6^th, scoring on a passed ball.

After striking out 2 in the 7^th, Trease reached his pitch limit. His line for the night was 6.2 IP, 5 hits, 11 K’s, 3 BB’s, and 1 run. Coach Whitesell turned to Willadsen for the final out in the 7^th. Willadsen painted the outside corner with a sharp slider to secure the win for Holly Springs.

Holly Springs will host No. 8 seeded Heritage HS on Friday, May 17^th, in the 4^th round of the 4A State Playoffs.

 

Holly Springs Highlights: