Monday sports page: Northpoint baseball outlasts Gryphons in 13 innings
Photo: Northpoint pitcher KL Farr is congratulated by teammates as he leaves the infield after an inning in Monday’s baseball game against St. George’s. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
April 14, 2025 – “11:07 p.m.,” Northpoint Christian School public address announcer Chuck Roberts announced, putting extra emphasis on the time that the Trojans’ baseball game with St. George’s ended Monday night.
The lateness of the hour was just one part of the marathon 13-inning game that took nearly four hours to complete. It’s what happened in the nearly four hours in between the 7:15 p.m. start and the 11 o’clock hour that made the contest one of most well-played, tense-filled matchups that ended with a wild pitch to decide a 2-1 Northpoint victory over the Gryphons. Trojans’ coach Stephen Kirkpatrick afterward said he couldn’t remember a baseball game lasting 13 innings at the school since he became the head coach.
First, there was the pitching. Two Division One commits dueled it out into the ninth inning before being forced to leave the mound having each met their 120-pitch count limit for the night. Northpoint’s KL Farr, heading to Southern Miss, struck out 12 and allowed three hits over 8.1 innings before Alex Love came into the game in relief in the ninth.
St. George’s Quinn Showalter, a junior who has committed to Duke, also fanned 12 batters, gave up five hits before West Smith came into the game to relieve him in the eighth inning.
“Duke and Southern Miss have to be really excited about what they have coming in,” Kirkpatrick said of the two starting pitchers. “Showalter was just electric tonight and KL matched him pitch for pitch.”
Then there was the defense. Neither team committed an error in the field until Zeke Cowell bobbled and a dropped a pop fly from his shortstop position in the 11th, a miscue later recovered with no damage to the Gryphons as Northpoint failed to score. The error turned out to be the only one committed in the entire game.
“It’s crazy in high school that you have two teams play 13 innings and make only one error,” Kirkpatrick said. “It was such a well-played game.”
The number 13 had to be unlucky and it first appeared Northpoint was the unlucky one when St. George’s was finally able to put a run on the board. With two out, left fielder Hayden Redd doubled to Farr, now playing in left field. Redd would come home when Showalter, now playing first base, singled to left for a 1-0 St. George’s lead.
The luck shifted to the Trojans in their half of the 13th inning. Vail Perkins opened the inning coaxing a walk from Smith. After Isaiah Nolan flied out to right, a wild pitch sent Perkins to second. Jaylon Dickson hit a pop fly to second for the second out of the inning, but then Nolan Bone took first with a walk. Landon Lay followed with a single to tie the game at 1-1 as courtesy runner Beck Rohman scored and Bone reached third base.
“I knew if we got Landon Lay up with a runner in scoring position we’d be fine, because he’s been seeing the ball and hitting the ball really well today,” Kirkpatrick said.
Lay took second without a challenge on the first pitch to Jack Harrell and on the next offering, the pitch got away from the St. George’s catcher and allowed the winning run to score for the 2-1 victory.
There won’t be much time for either team to rest from Monday’s marathon because the district series continues on the Collierville, Tenn. campus Tuesday. After an off-day Wednesday, the Trojans get back at it again, traveling to Hernando on Thursday to take on the MHSAA 7A Tigers.
Monday, April 14
Prep baseball
- Northpoint Christian 2, St. George’s 1 (13 innings)
- Northpoint: KL Farr-2 hits. 8.1 IP, 3 hits, no runs, 12 strikeouts. Landon Lay-2 hits.
- Magnolia Heights 12, Bayou Academy 0 (4 innings)
- Hernando 12, Lafayette (Oxford) 1(5 innings)
- Hernando: Josh Pena-3 runs, triple. Connor Young-double.
- Marion, Ark. 5, DeSoto Central 4
- DeSoto Central: Connor Simpson-2 runs, 2 hits. Aiden Steht-5 IP, 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 strikeouts.
Prep softball
- DeSoto Central 11, Southaven 1 (6 innings)
- DeSoto Central: Colby Young-3 hits, double. Londen Armstrong-double. Makayla Jamison-3.2 IP, 3 hits, 1 unearned run, 4 strikeouts. Lucy Gaffney: 2.1 IP, 1 hit, 5 strikeouts.
- Northpoint Christian 15, St. George’s 1 (5 innings)
- Northpoint: Lady Trojans scored 5 runs in the fifth inning to win. Trinity Garvin-3 runs, 3 hits. 5 IP, 1 run, 8 strikeouts. E Myrick-3 runs, 2 hits, double. M Bennett-3 runs, 2 hits.
SPORTS ETC.:
Lewisburg High School Monday announced the addition of Walker Wilkinson as its new head golf coach, with the departure of Adam Payne to become golf coach at Northwest Mississippi Community College.
Wilkinson is the Head Golf Professional and PGA Director of Instruction at the Olive Branch Country Club in Olive Branch. He played golf for Northwest and prepped at DeSoto Central High School, where the Jaguars finished third in the 2014 MHSAA 6A state meet, and he had a 78 scoring average his senior year.
