Published: May 06, 2009 11:33 pm      

North tops No. 11 Bruins

Byford comes in to shutdown Bartlesville in seventh inning

It didn’t take long for the Edmond North baseball team to make its presence felt on the east side of the state, knocking off No. 11-ranked Bartlesville, 8-7 to advance to the winners bracket of the regional tournament.

The Huskies got a big performance from Cody Crabaugh on the day. The senior earned the win on the mound, while hitting a solo-home run and a double. But the biggest hit of the day belonged to Cole Carter, who in the top of the seventh hit a two-run double past a sunken infield to give North an 8-3 lead. Though it didn’t appear to be necessary at the time.

“We jumped on them early, we scored four runs in the first inning,” North head coach Rick Nordyke said. “We’ve got some confidence at the plate right now, we’re playing well defensively, but we’re really hitting the ball well.”

North pounded out 12 hits in the game against Bartlesville’s No. 1 pitcher.

Crabaugh carried the Huskies on the mound until the bottom of the seventh. He got tired and left with the bases loaded and no outs. Chance Lyons then came in and gave up three ground balls, which resulted in four runs.

“Chance gave up three ground balls and we just didn’t make a play on them so we brought in Colton Byford,” Nordyke said.

And Byford delivered, striking out the first batter, then a pop out, then striking out the third to end the game.

Byford will start in today’s game as the Huskies face No. 4 Tulsa Union who beat Sapulpa 9-1 earlier in the day. The game is set for 1 p.m. at Union.

“Colton only threw about 20 pitches, which is like a bullpen session for him, so he’ll be ready to go,” Nordyke said. “We just need to continue to play with confidence, we need to jump on the early, just continue to play like we’ve been playing.”

Trent Braden had two hits in the win, while Carter also had two hits.