Opening Day is always a special day. If I tell you “Happy Opening Day” and you say “of what?” we can’t be friends.
Opening Day 2024 for the Grace Christian Warriors is an opportunity to put last year’s Semi Final loss to bed and get the lofty goals of this year’s team underway. Led by three very solid Seniors in Cody Davis, Seth Cook, and Jack Powell, the ’24 Warriors came out ready to go. Coach Josh Brown has a team that is a unique one by normal standards as they started 3 8th graders to go along with the three Seniors. In fact two of the three 8th graders bat 3/4 in the lineup.
But it was the upperclassmen that led the way tonight. Junior Kanyon Wright got the start on the hill for GCS and went 6 strong innings striking out 10 Oberlin Tigers. With the Wright start on the mound that meant Senior Seth Cook would move to First Base. According to Coach Brown, “Seth can play any of the positions on the field. He’s our utility guy.”
And while Cook had a very solid game at 1b including a big play saving stretch to save a Powell throwing Error, it was his bat from the 7 hole that propelled GCS to the win. In the first inning Cook banged a 2-strike single that plated 2 runs and capped the Warriors 4 run first.
Then in the 5th inning, Cook golfed a 2-strike pitch over the Centerfield wall to push the GCS lead to 5-2.
In speaking with Cook after the game about his performance he said, “I have been struggling. It’s good to come out and have a great game.” When asked about his visit to the mound to talk to another 8th grader in Logan Maricle, having moved from Centerfield to the Mound in relief of Wright, “I just wanted to calm him down”.
Maricle did calm down. He finished up for Wright and earned his first Save of the year. The hard throwing LHP is going to be a good one for the Warriors. He is a dominant Southpaw arm and also plays defense as he got the start in Centerfield.
The 3rd 8th grader, Zack Craig added two hits for the Warriors. GCS Backstop Cody Davis had a hit and scored a run on the night.
The Warriors host a tournament with ASH this weekend and will be on the diamond Thursday, Friday, and two games on Saturday.
