A program built to pursue championships will get to host one this weekend.

Grace Christian of Sanford earned another weekend at Crusader Park after coming back from an early deficit to defeat Gaston Christian 6-4 in the NCISAA 3A state semi-final.

Caleb Ellis reached back and blew a fastball by Xander Sutton to send the Crusaders back to the title series for the first time since winning it two years ago. Tuesday showed why all of the pieces are place to raise another banner.

The team’s star power shined bright.

Throwing for the first time in over a week, Camron Seagraves rebounded from a rocky first inning to strike out 14 over 5.2 innings. The Campbell commit continued to set down Eagle batters until his offense could catch up, and boy it did.

Trailing 2-0 with two down in the bottom of the third, Wesley Clewis walked and Matt Murchison singled. Boaz Harper launched a go-ahead three-run home run to left, and the Crusaders would never relinquish the lead.

Gaston Christian established an early 2-0 advantage after it picked up a pair of singles, a hit batsman, then scored on a ground out and error.

The top of the Grace Christian order added insurance with another three-run frame. The first five to step to the plate in the bottom of the fifth reached including four consecutive singles. Harper scored Clewis again, Ellis managed to plate Murchison, and Connor Howard drew a bases loaded walk to give the Crusaders a 6-2 lead.

Jack Kimbrell singled off of Seagraves in the sixth to make it 6-3, and that’s when things turned over to Ellis for a four-out save.

Despite a one-out solo home run by Meridian Leffew in the seventh, Grace was able to slam the door.

The top three batters in the Crusader order managed to go 5-for-9 with 6 runs scored, 4 RBI, and 3 walks.

A best-of-three series will begin this Friday against Hickory Grove Christian. Game one is scheduled for Friday at Crusader Park.

Source: highschoolot.com