Grace Christian Cougars baseball completes sweep of Westwood to stay undefeated in District 3 Region Play
Published 3:12 pm Thursday, March 20, 2025
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The Grace Christian Academy Cougars baseball program completed the three-game sweep on Tuesday, March 18 defeating the Westwood Wildcats 9-2. As they have during the entire series they struck first in the top of the first inning with a Noah Smith line drive single to left field that scored third baseman, pitcher, and shortstop Aiden Whittaker.
The Cougars (5-3, 3-0) would strike again in the top of the second with a hard-hit ground ball from Whittaker where he reached first base via an error and scored second baseman Jacob Elkins. Smith continued his hot day at the plate with a hard-hit ground ball single to center field that would score shortstop and pitcher Keith Eidson, and after a throwing error from the Wildcats outfield left fielder Cade Wells would score and Smith was alert on the bases taking second base to make it 4-1.
A line drive double to left field by Whittaker in the top of the fourth inning would extend the Cougars’ lead to 5-2 after Eidson scored. Right fielder Landon Temples singled on a ground ball to third base on a 0-1 count and scored Atkinson, well advancing Elkins to third base and first baseman Hines Roberts to second base.
On a 1-0 count Eidson hit a laser to center field, scoring Roberts and Temples. After an error in center field, Eidson would advance to third base and Elkins would put an exclamation point giving the Cougars a seven-run lead.
Smith was tremendous going three-for-four and converting on three runs batted in. Whittaker and Eidson both finished with multiple base hits.
“Noah’s hitting has always been great, but he’s excelled at the catcher spot overall this season,” Grace Christian Academy manager, Nathan Nunez said. “It’s actually his first season ever playing catcher, for him to continue being great at the plate is a cherry on top.”
It wasn’t just the good bat control and contact hitting that kept GCA undefeated in region play. Daniel Johnson, Whittaker, and Eidson combined for 7.0 strong innings of work giving up just five hits, one earned run, walking only three batters, and striking out a hefty 13 batters. Whittaker led the pitching staff with six strikeouts, Johnson had four, and Eidson tallied three punchouts.
Johnson got the start on the bump going a strong 3.0 innings before Whittaker came in relief, again and continued his dominant performance on the mound with 12 strikeouts combined in his past two outings of just 4.1 innings. Eidson locked down the five-out save, firing 17 strikes out of his 26 pitches.
“On the mound, Aiden has excelled at throwing strikes, I had rumors that he could throw hard when I took the job,” Nunez said. “His command, ability to find the strike zone, and capitalizing on hitters’ mistakes has been evident.”
The Cougars will enjoy a well-earned break, with their next game set for Monday at 4:00 pm, when they’ll host the Crisp Academy Wildcats, a District 3 Region rival, who sit in second at (4-4, 2-1) at the GCA Athletic Complex.
