Mount  Tabor conquers Ohio opponent at The Ripken  Experience
The game was a  tight struggle throughout. However the 
Spartans were able to overcome the  Panthers with a 3-2 victory. Mount Tabor
scored first in the bottom of the  2nd. Cody Thomas drew the walk and Neal
Callahan (two hits on the night)  was able to advance him to third  with a line
drive double to right center.  The two runners both  advanced on a fielding
mishap and the Spartans were on top 1 to 0. But the Panthers didn’t give up as
they connected for a  couple of  hits to  drive in one run and tie the game.
Thomas St. Clair,  who  pitched a  complete game, was able to hold off the
competition from  scoring any  further  runs until the seventh. Tabor’s offense
came alive in  the  bottom  of the 3rd. Jeff Rowell drew the leadoff walk, and
Sean McCabe earned  the RBI with a  line drive single. After McCabe stole
second, Cole   Penn plastered a  deep left center double to score the runner
giving the  Spartans  a 3-1  lead. It wasn’t until the 7th inning that the
Panthers   threatened  again by connecting a couple of hits with a sacrifice fly
to  score  one more  run. But with great pitching by Thomas St. Clair and a  
  strong  defense to back him up, the Spartans ended up on top. St.  Clair  
  pitched 7 innings, with an incredible 11 K’s, 3 BB’s, 7 hits, and only 2  runs! 
  The Spartans had a total of 6 hits and 4 walks to increase  their on base 
  percentage and were aggressive on the diamond with 3 stolen  bases. 


TABOR WINS SECOND GAME AT CAL RIPKEN! GO SPARTANS!
Tabor took its  second victory  at the beach beating the Wildcats team from  Kentucky 4-0.The
Spartans had eight  hits on the  day scattered  across every inning.But it was
in the second inning   that our boys  took the lead.Stuart Clark drew the
walk, followed  by Neal   Callahan’s single. Cory Matherly drew a walk to
load the  bases.  The Wildcats pitcher struggled and eventually a 
hit-by-pitch forced in a run  giving Tabor the 1-0 lead.In the  bottom of
the third the Spartans went to work  again with a leadoff walk  followed  by
Hank Niblock’s double to deep right  center. Cole Penn  scored  from third
on the catcher’s passed ball advancing  Niblock to  third.Back to back walks
then loaded the bases.  Once  again the   Wildcats pitching struggled as
they walked in another run giving the  Spartans a   3-0 lead.But Mt. Tabor
was not finished as Sean McCabe  started  the bottom of
the fourth with a  line drive single. With an  error  on the third baseman and
then an infield  hit by Hank Niblock the bases  were  loaded once again.Micah
Wells returned a hit up the middle  for an  RBI to bring the Spartans to a 4-0
lead.A  single by Nick  Hauser  in the fifth inning, and a single by Thomas St. 
  Clair in the sixth  inning was  all the offense Tabor could come up with. Micah 
  Wells  pitched a  complete game no-hitter to shutout the Wildcats. W ells 
  had an  outstanding performance on the mound with 15 K’s, 2 BB’s, no hits, 
  and  no  runs.  Congratulations to the team on another victory and good 
luck   with two more games remaining at the beach!

TABOR  TAKES THIRD WIN OVER KENSTON BOMBERS OF OHIO!
As in the  previous two games,  the Spartans scored  early in the second  inning. Hank
Niblock started the  inning with a  single, and the  pinch runner, David Doyle,
scored from  first on Micah Wells’ double down the  right field line. This gave
the  Spartans the 1-0  lead that held to  the end of the game. While the Spartans 
  had no  more runs they  continued with hits spread across each inning. Sean 
  McCabe’s  single in the third, Jeff Rowell’s single in fourth, and Cory  
  Matherly’s single  in the fifth all led to inspire the boys but the offense
came   up short.In the sixth inning it appeared the Tabor offense was  going
to make   something happen. Sean McCabe started the sixth with  a single, 
followed by a  walk for Cole Penn. But a popped-up bunt  caught  McCabe off
the bag.  After  Micah Wells hit a single down the  third  base line to
advance Penn to third,  David Doyle was hit-by-pitch to load  the  bases.
But again it wasn’t enough to  plate a  run.  Fortunately Michael Paspy was
on the mound and pitched a   complete game  shutout.  Paspy was able to keep
the Bombers hitters  off balance   with lots of ground ball outs.  Backed up
by strong  defense,  including two  6-3 double plays for Sean McCabe to Cole
Penn, Paspy  logged seven  innings with  only 65 PItches.  Paspy’s steady
arm  recorded 1 K, 0  BB’s, 8 hits, and no  runs.  Congratulations  Spartans
on another  hard fought victory. Mount Tabor  looks to win  their fourth of
four  on Saturday morning at the  beach.

VARSITY WON  THEIR FOURTH STRAIGHT
GAME AT CAL RIPKEN!!!! WAY TO GO SPARTANS!!!
In   an offensive battle the Spartans win 9-6 over the Ridgewood Generals from Ohio.  
  The Generals started out with an early lead of 3 runs in the first inning. 
But  once again, for the fourth day in a row, the second inning proved to be 
  significant as Mount Tabor scored 6 runs in that inning alone.  The
Spartans  never gave up the lead from there on but the Generals kept
threatening by adding  a run in three other innings.  Mount Tabor scored an
additional 1 in the third  inning, and 2 in the sixth.  Sean McCabe and Cole
Penn each had hits in the  first inning but came up short on runs.  However
in the second inning David  Doyle got things going with a single, followed
by Neal Callahan’s infield  single, and then Cory Matherly’s single to the
left side.  With bases loaded  Tabor experienced a hit-by-pitch to score a
run, followed by a walk to score  another, and Sean McCabe’s sacrifice fly
to right field.  Then another  hit-by-pitch followed by Hank Niblock’s
single and Micah Wells’ single enabled  Tabor to score six runs on five
hits.  Singles in the third inning by Cory  Matherly and the fourth by
Stuart Clark unfortunately was not enough to generate
additional runs.  In  the sixth inning with combined hit-by-pitch, walks, and
sacrifice bunt by  Sean McCabe and a sacrifice fly by David Doyle the Spartans
were able to  tack on two more runs.  Pitching was by committee in this game as
Mount  Tabor used four pitchers.  Matt Paspy was the starting pitcher.  Jeff 
  Rowell and Graham Morton filled in with middle relief work.  And the closing 
  pitcher was Cody Thomas.  Total pitching stats included 1 K, 8 BB’s, 5
hits, and  4 earned runs.  The Spartans look to continue their strong
defensive play and  strengthening offensive play this week as they continue
in conference play on  Tuesday and Friday of this coming week.  Go 
Spartans! 

Senior Night!
It was all planned...for weeks. 11  Spartan jerseys hung from the dugout to
celebrate each seniors player's  last home game at Carl R Sapp Field Friday
night.  The seniors and their  parents walked out on the field prior to the game
where moms recieved  flowers and dads were handed autographed baseballs from
their sons. What  wasn't planned was for eight Spartans to continue that walk in
the fifth  inning, leading to a nine runs and come from behind 9-2 win over RJ 
  Reynolds.  Micah Wells got the start and the win while contributing at the plate 
  with a double and three RBI's. Neil Callahan continued his recent hot
hittting  going 3-5 and scoring two runs. The win locked down sole possesion
of fourth  place in a tight CPC race, moving MT ahead of RJR and North
Davidson for the  last automatic entry into the State tournament.  


West Forsyth jumped out to an  early  lead Tuesday night scoring 2
in the first inning.  Mount Tabor answered   with 1 in the second inning when
Chris Dolge slammed a double of the left field   fence. But the Titans were
able to keep adding one for the next three  innings. 
In the third inning  the Spartans were able to manufacture a  couple runs to keep
the game  close.  After two batters were hit-by-pitch  and no outs, Micah Wells
put  down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to  second and third.  Hank 
  Niblock then followed with a hit up the middle to  score both runners for two 
  RBI’s.  But the Titans held the lead until the  fifth inning when Mount
Tabor  broke things open.  With a great approach to  the plate the Spartan
hitters  were able combine hits with walks to plate 5
runs and take the  lead, never  turning back.  Cory Matherly drove in an
insurance run in  the top of the  seventh with a line drive single to the right
side.   The Spartans had 7  hits on the night (Chris Dulge 2B and 1B, Hank 
  Niblock 1B, Cole Penn 1B,  Cory Matherly 2B and 1B, Sean McCabe 1B).  Thomas
  St. Clair pitched a complete game for the win.  St. Clair had a bit of a 
rough start, but after getting some  run support the starter gained strength
and  confidence as the game went on.   Once the Spartans took the lead in
the  fifth, St. Clair was unshakeable and  shut down the Titans.  St. Clair 
pitched 7 innings with 7K’s, 5BB’s, 4 hits,  and 4 earned runs. 

Congratulations to the Spartans on a hard fought
victory!Spartans Lose  Heartbreaker in Bottom of Ninth 2-1. Chase for the Championship
Ends.  It  was yet another amazing  baseball game on what has been an unreal run the
past two weeks for the  Spartans. But this time the Mount Tabor Spartans
came up just short of going to  the Western Region FInals and and their
first ever State Final Four in the  NCHSAA State baseball tournament losing
to cross town foe East Forsyth 2-1 in  nine dramatic innings.  The game
picked up from last nights lightning delay in  the bottom of the second but
if you didnt' know it, you couldn't tell much  difference.  It was all about
pitching, with Spartan ace Thomas St Clair battling East's crafty lefty
Caleb Edwards. The two were clearly in charge and  when the batters did
connect, great defense denied any runs.  Sean McCabe and
Chris Dolge were  like vacuums up the middle and the other Spartans played
stellar defense  all night. Tabor threatened in the third and sixth after McCabe
got on  safely but both times left him at third.     In the bottom of the 
  sixth, McCabe gloved a hard shot to short and got the runner in time to end an 
  East rally.  In the bottom of the seventh, with the game tied at 0-0, St
Clair  gave up a leadoff hit.  East attempted a bunt but popped it up
halfway down the  third base line and heading foul. Nick Hauser, who was
playing in at third,  sprinted, dove and caught the ball for an out!  St
Clair got two fly balls that  took the Spartans to their second extra inning
game in the past four games.     The eighth was another repeat, with
lots of great pitching  and defense but little offense.  In the ninth, Tabor
brings up it's top of the  order.  With one out Cole Penn lashes a long fly
ball to left center the cleared  the fence for a solo Spartan Shot
putting Tabor up 1-0 and erupting the  huge Tabor crowd!  It was Penn's
second homer during the tournament. Tabor  couldn't generate any more runs
so they headed to the bottom on nine up 1-0.   St Clair was no where to
be seen as the Spartans warmed up for the bottom of  nine.  But he finally
jogged out from the dugout to a supportive cheer from the
Spartan faithful.    Thomas gets the first batter to fly out but then gives up a
bloop single  over McCabe's head at short to put a man on first.  The next batter
get two  balls on some close pitches which sent Coach Lovelace to the mound. 
Micah  Wells, Tabor's senior ace, had been warming up for two innings and got the 
  call from Lovelace.  Wells has been on fire lately, including a complete game 
  win against #1 Davie Friday night.  

   East gets two more men  on,  loading the bases with one out.  The next batter lines a hit into center.  
  Cory Mattherly scoops up the ball and as the runner is sent around third, 
  unleashes a monster throw to the plate.  The throw never touched the ground and 
  Hank Niblock moved about five feet down the third base line just in time to
grab  the toss and tag the runner, saving the winning run and making two
outs.  Game  is tied, 1-1 with men on first and third.  On Wells second
pitch, he balks going  to first which allowed the runner from third to go
home and add another run for  East, ending the game 2-1. 
   Mount Tabor  shocked the state  with tournament wins over #1 in the state and #8 in the
USA, Providence where St  Clair and Wells tagged team in nine innings for
the 5-4 win.  Then, MT downed  Dudley in another pitchers duel 1-0.  In the
third round Tabor demolished #1 in  the conference Davie 5-1.  All wins were
on the road vs. three of the best teams  in the state.   The Spartans had a
terrific second half, playing exciting  baseball and winning seven of their
last ten games under "do or die" conditions  winning by playing good defense
and getting some timely hits that produced runs.   It's a testiment to the
drive, passion and character of this team.  They should  all hold their
heads high for a great season and playoff run of spectacular 
  baseball. 

Good luck to all the graduating seniors!  GO

Spartans!


Spartans Keep Winning Streak
Going. Down #1 Seed
Davie 5-1
By: DAN KIBLER | Special to the Journal 
 
Published: May 19, 2012 
Mount Tabor's Micah Wells  made a lot  of big pitches, and Davie County  didn't make a lot of little ones,
so the  Spartans are in the quarterfinals of  the Class 4-A baseball
championships.   Wells scattered five hits and struck out seven — getting
stronger  every  inning — and Mount Tabor took advantage of four throwing errors
by the War   Eagles to take a 5-1 win on Friday night at Rich Park.
  The  Spartans,  who floundered early in the season but have won 11 of  their past 13
games,  will play at East Forsyth on Tuesday night for a berth in  next weekend's 
  best-of-three semifinal series. East defeated West Forsyth 9-3 in Friday night's 
  other third-round game. "To have beaten the three teams we've played on
the  road in the  playoffs, it's unbelievable," said Mike Lovelace, the
Spartans'  head coach.  "Micah Wells was just unbelievable tonight, but he's
been that way  all year.  We've won on pitching and defense. We've executed
and done the little  things."
  Wells gave up a run in the first inning  when Nick Boswell singled,
  stole second, moved to third on a long fly and  scored on Matt Vernon's single. 
But that was it for the War Eagles (21-5).  They had one other scoring 
opportunity, but Davie's Karch Arey was thrown  out at the plate trying to score 
from second on an infield hit. The  Spartans scored twice in the second. Hank
Niblock — who was 3 for  3 — led off with a double and moved to third on a wild
pitch. David Doyle walked  and Cory Matherly singled off pitcher Corey Randall's
glove, scoring  Niblock.  Randall got a strikeout, then threw a potential
double-play ball  to Chris Dolge but after the force at second, Doyle scored on a
wild throw  to  first.   Mount Tabor got two more in the fifth. Randall
sandwiched  strikeouts  around a throwing error that allowed Jeff Rowell to reach
on  his chop in front  of the plate. Neal Callahan singled to move him to second, 
  and both runners advanced on a passed ball before Cole Penn walked to load
the  bases. Niblock  then chopped a ball down the third-base line for an
infield hit;  Rowell scored, and Callahan also scored on an overthrow of
first base.  The Spartans scored a run in the sixth when Nick Hauser
singled with  one out,  Randall fanned Dolge, then Rowell chopped a ball in
front of the plate  for an  infield hit; Hauser scored when Randall threw
the ball past first  base.  Wells  got out of the sixth after Arey singled
and stole second. Arey  was thrown out  at the plate by first baseman Penn
when Will Beason chopped a  ball in front of  the plate and beat it out.
  Wells struck out the side in the seventh.  "I was  too hyped up at the
beginning; I needed to calm down," Wells  said. "After the  first inning, I
started throwing my breaking ball a little  harder and got more
movement. I  tried to hit more spots and not work so  hard."  Lovelace said Wells
did  exactly what he was supposed to.  "We talked about challenging some 
  batters," he said. "Once we got the  lead, his breaking ball got better. In the 
  first inning, he didn't have his  velocity." Coach Mike Herndon of
Davie  felt like the pressure and high expectations of being a high seed
wore on  his team.  "They had nothing to lose; we had a lot more at stake,"
he said. "We   couldn't relax and play. We threw the ball away five times. 
They have great  pitching, and they're playing good at the right time, 
playing with a lot of  confidence."

Mount Tabor has now made the  Elite  Eight in the North Carolina 4A State Baseball tournament for the
second time in  four years.  They'll play in round four Tuesday night at
East   Forsyth.