Photo: The Northpoint Christian School dugout watches the action during Wednesday’s playoff win over Tipton-Rosemark. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
You can’t win a championship if you don’t take the first step and for Northpoint Christian’s baseball team, the road to a title defense began by taking a 7-1 victory step from Tipton-Rosemark Academy Wednesday night.
Northpoint coach Stephen Kirkpatrick said he was glad to get the postseason off to a positive start.
With the win, the Trojans host Lausanne Collegiate Thursday evening at 7:15 in a second round Division II-A West Region game with hopes of advancing to the tournament’s Final Four and a spot in the TSSAA state playoffs.
Northpoint leaned on the bat of Carson Jones and the arm of KL Farr to get past the Rebels. Jones had three hits, including a run-scoring triple, and Farr fanned 13 of 21 Tipton-Rosemark outs from his spot on the mound.
The Trojans opened the game with a pair of runs in the first inning, thanks to a two-run scoring double from Seth Giamportone.
After TRA posted a run in their half of the fourth inning, Northpoint would answer with three more in their half of the fourth for a 5-1 advantage when Jones found a gap in right centerfield for a triple and two more runs on the board. Jones would come home on a wild pitch later in the inning.
“Carson has been consistent for us all year,” Kirkpatrick said about Jones. “He has come out of nowhere and just been consistent with it. Hopefully he stays hot.”
That’s where the score would stand until Northpoint added two more runs in the sixth inning to put the game away.
Jones scored three times on three hits, including a triple, and had two RBIs. Giamportone also drove in two runs with his double.
Meanwhile Farr, who has committed to the University of Arkansas, allowed one run on three hits and he walked three.
“I mean, I can’t say enough about KL,” Kirkpatrick said. “We felt really good with him on the mound and just knew he was gonna go out there, give us a chance to win, and he did.”
Lausanne stands in the way of where the Trojans want to be with Thursday’s contest ahead, weather permitting. The teams split a pair of games during the regular season with the Lynx winning the last meeting at Northpoint 4-2 on April 23. The winner gets a day off before playing next on saturday. The loser will have to play on friday in the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament to be able to get into the final four and the state playoffs.
SOFTBALL, SOCCER CONTINUE TOURNAMENT TRAIL: The Northpoint Christian softball team advanced in its regional tournament with a forfeit from Fayette Academy. The Lady Trojans next face Jackson Christian on Thursday, starting at 5 p.m. The Northpoint boys’ soccer team is also in regional playoff action, hosting Harding Academy at 5:30 p.m.
