The West Point Warriors traveled to Athens to battle against the Golden Eagles Tuesday night. West Point’s Junior, Eli Folds, was on the mound for the Warriors and pitched a 10-0 shoutout which ended in five-inning due to the ten-run rule. Folds had four strikeouts, allowed one hit and three walks. Folds is known for being an Ace Closer for West Point and can now put his name in the books as one of the Warriors shutout pitchers.
Fold on throwing his first shutout game for the Warriors, “Well speaking on the shutout. It’s very exciting to get a shutout in baseball especially facing a team like Athens. I felt like I was feeling good with my fastball coming out of my hand, good mixing in a curveball and changeup, but I want to give the credit where it is due, which is the defense I had playing behind me. All I had to do was throw it in the strike zone, and we would get outs, so being honest, this is a team shutout. I don’t think as a team we had an error tonight, and as for a pitcher, it’s effortless to pitch when you know wherever the ball gets hit, it’s going to be an out. Overall I’m just glad to get back in the win column today moving into this week.
West Point had the bats swinging throughout the game, but the six runs in the fifth inning secured the win. Isaac Hoffpauir and Chase Sibley led the Warriors with two hits apiece, while Branson Smith, Will Cochran, and Eli Folds came away respectively with a hit each. Warriors shortstop, Smith, led West Point with two RBI’s, followed by Folds, Cochran, Hoffpauir, and JD Cochran with one RBI each. West Point picked up one run in the second inning, three in the third, and busted the bats open in the fifth.
The Warriors defense was near perfect throughout the game. Brody Freeman led West Point in defensive plays with six. The Warriors recorded zero errors against the Golden Eagles. Athens lone hit came from a single by Zach Harries.
West Point Head Coach, Drew Bryson, was happy to clean up a few areas the Warriors have been exposed and get back on track after facing some powerhouse teams over the last couple of weeks. “I am really proud of our guys and how we played today. We’ve been on a tough run lately. We’ve played some really good, top-ranked competition the last six games and have gotten exposed in some areas we needed to improve on. Our guys came out today and played a clean, complete game all the way around and competed hard. Eli was great on the mound for us and set the tone. As a staff, we’ve struggled lately just commanding the zone and staying ahead of guys. He did a great job today. We had great at-bats and played great defense behind him. It’s good to get back on track again and play clean, fundamental baseball.”
