Mintz Christian Academy’s Varsity Baseball team made more school history this season, winning back-to-back championships for the first time in MCA history. The Lions thrashed Liberty Christian Academy last Saturday 20-10, to clinch their second CCAA Baseball Title.
Mintz advanced to Saturday’s championship game following a second round game against Scotland. The Lions defeated the Saints 10-3 behind strong performances on the mound from Evan Plant, Connor Bullard, and Nate Small.
With one half of the title game set, Mintz awaited to find out who would be their championship game foe.
The No. 1 seed, the Columbus Christian Academy Pacers, faced off against No. 4 seed Liberty in a Thursday evening semifinal game. Columbus was upset by the Knights 7-6 to pit them against No.2 seed Lions.
Saturday’s game started off less than ideally for Mintz.
Facing eight batters in the first inning alone, Plant gave up three runs. Only one of them was earned, however, as errors compounded the Lions sleepy start to the game.
The deficit Mintz faced was quickly erased when they got a chance to step up to the plate for their first at-bat.
A leadoff double from Small quickly put a runner in scoring position for MCA. Small advanced his way across the diamond on stolen bases as he got home safely on a passed ball to put the Lions on the board, 3-1.
Then, a two run shot out of the park from the junior Plant knotted the game at three runs apiece.
The deadlock, though, quickly spiraled out of control for the Knights.
Having pitched ace Brando Bunnell in their second round upset of Columbus, Liberty was hoping to piece together a a strong pitching staff. The lack of just that showed when five straight batters were walked. Facing a 7-3 deficit, LCA gave up three more runs before a pop-fly to the third baseman ended the first inning.
Stephen Kriner’s solo shot past the centerfield fence in the second inning was the highlight of Liberty’s day. Mintz also had a big second inning, plating six more runs to add to their large, 16-4 advantage.
With the score at 20-9 heading to the top of the fifth, the Lions knew if they held Liberty to something less than two runs, they’d clinch another CCAA crown.
Small, who pitched two innings in relief, fanned the first batter he faced.
The Knights found some momentum when Small issued a one out walk and gave up a single to put runners at the corners for Liberty.
A passed ball scored one run for LCA, putting the score at 20-10, but a punchout of the leadoff man gave Mintz their second out.
Kriner, already credited with a homerun and two doubles, stepped up to the plate hoping for another basehit to extend the game. Kriner, though, grounded out to third baseman Connor Bullard who turned to Plant, now playing first, for the final out of the game and clinching the championship.
MCA head coach Aaron Underwood, who took over the baseball program at Mintz in 2016, learned a lot from that first season when he led MCA to the CCAA Championship game.
“After that first year, we lost some very impactful seniors and began a rebuild,” said Underwood. “We work with our sixth and seventh graders on fundamentals, knowing that we had more years to come with them. If we could get them to buy in and believe they could play with older kids, then I knew we could have a competitive team.”, Underwood continued.
“Being able to play varsity starting in the sixth grade provided a big opportunity for us to build a championship worthy team. Players such as Evan Plant, Nate Small, and Daniel Matthews, have been with us since that very first season and they’re progression from then till now is evident in their play.”
The coach also credited his coaching staff and school administration with his teams recent successes.
“Having no seniors this year it was truly a team effort and I couldn’t be prouder of my guys. I’d like to thank our assistant coaches, Stephen Holden and Dillon Pilkington. Our team wouldn’t be as successful without them. I’d also like to thank our awesome athletic director, Dan Heinz. He has done a fantastic job with the athletic program here at Mintz. With the new uniforms, Coach Heinz made sure that our boys were the sharpest in the conference.said the championship winning coach.”, Underwood said.
“Winning back-to-back titles is awesome. We showed everyone that Mintz baseball is the team to beat and that we are always hungry for more,” Underwood concluded.
MCA Athletic Director Dan Heinz commented, “Mintz baseball took another great stride this past weekend by winning back to back Carolinas Christian Athletic Association championships. Coach Underwood and his assistants have stressed fundamentals from day one, year one and it has paid off,” Heinz concluded.
The Lions finish 10-2 overall this season, with several games cancelled due to Mother Nature. Mintz will begin their quest for a three-peat when school comes back in session in August.
