BLOOMFIELD – The Bloomfield High School baseball squad continued its run to exceptionalism this spring on Friday with a 10-4 thumping of a really good Greenville team at Bloomfield High School. As usual, it was the five Wildcat seniors who paced the attack, which was fitting due to it being Senior Day at the ballpark.
“They are unbelievable character kids,” third-year Wildcat coach Chris Smith said of his five seniors.
That special group consists of Caleb Upchurch, Justice Cossey, Kayden Craft, Lawles Graser, and Cole Hartlein.
Against the Bears, each of the seniors contributed, contributing five hits, scoring three times, driving in seven runs, stealing a couple of bases, and drawing a pair of walks.
Greenville (14-4) entered last week with a 13-1 mark, but having to play four games in five days has taken its toll on its pitching staff, which showed against the Wildcats (17-3).
Bloomfield got to Greenville starter Kaiden Webb in the second inning, as the hosts tallied a hit-by-pitch, a pair of walks, two hits, and took advantage of a Bear fielding mistake to build a 6-0 lead.
“We haven’t been throwing strikes,” sixth-year Bear coach Benji Stahl said. ‘We’ve been walking a lot of people.”
Greenville got a couple of runs back in the third inning, but Bloomfield answered with three more in the third and another in the fourth, as Smith rode Craft through five innings.
Upchurch paced Bloomfield with a pair of hits, both doubles, to go with four RBI and a run scored.
“I have only been (at Bloomfield) for three years,” Smith said, “but I would be hard-pressed to find another athlete who has had the overall career that Caleb Upchurch has had.”
Bloomfield got three hits, including a double, a stolen base, two runs and two RBI out of leadoff hitter Carter Edwards while Craft (one hit, one run, one RBI, two stolen bases), Cossey (one RBI), junior Andrew Cruz-Blanco (one RBI, one walk), Hartlein (twice hit by a pitch, one hit, one walk), Graser (one hit, one run, one RBI, one walk), junior Cooper Clay (one hit, one run, one walk), and junior Lane Grigery (one hit, two runs) also produced offensively.
