CRESTVIEW— It was tough sledding for Crestview High School’s baseball team Thursday night as the Bulldogs hosted Navarre in a District 2-7A game.
The Raiders sent senior ace Matt Cronin to the mound and he showed why he is one of the top pitching prospects in the area. Cronin allowed just four hits and struck out 14 Bulldog batters to lead Navarre to a 6-3 win.
“You have to tip your hat to him (Cronin), he was really good, as he has been his whole career,” Bulldog Coach Tim Gillis said. “You aren’t going to make a living facing him every time out.
“We didn’t put the at bats together and put the ball in play and put the pressure on him a little bit better. That’s on me as the coach. We have to get that part of the game shored up and I hope we get better as we go on.”
The Raiders scored first in the second inning when Tyler Rebber was safe on a Bulldog error and later scored as Rusty Rogers tripled.
Crestview (7-4, 2-1) tied the game in the bottom of the third inning. Dayne Justice led off the inning with the first Bulldog hit of the game. Justice took second base on a Cronin wild pitch and scored as Alik Whited laced a single to left.
Navarre regained the lead in the top of the fourth inning. Crestview starting pitcher, Jeremy Willis, walked the first two Raider batters of the inning. Those two walks came back to haunt Willis and the Bulldogs when Andre Macedo doubled to clear the bases.
The Bulldogs answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. Austin Polk walked to lead off the inning. Corey Armstrong followed Polk with a base hit up the middle.
Matt French sacrificed to move Polk to third and Armstrong to second. Colter Hancock was safe on an error scoring Polk and moving Armstrong to third.
Bryant Berry took the field as a courtesy runner for Hancock, the Bulldog catcher. It looked as if Berry was going to be picked off first base, but he continued to run to second base forcing an errant throw and allowing Armstrong to score.
Seth Forrest replaced Willis on the mound for Crestview in the fourth inning. Forrest gave up six hits and two runs in 1 1/3 innings of work to take the loss. Forrest was lifted for Matt Bottom with one Raider out in the fifth inning and finished out the game for Crestview allowing one run on one hit.
Armstrong led the Bulldogs with two hits.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Cronin leads Navarre past Crestview