Rocky Mount beats East Rowan 7-4
May 30th, 2008 Posted in High School Baseball, High School Playoffs, NCHSAA
Photo: East Rowan baseball, earlier in state playoffs, Ken Charnock
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A balanced Rocky Mount offensive attack banged out 10 hits as the Gryphons defeated East Rowan 7-4 in the first game of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3-A baseball championship series on Friday at Five County Stadium.
East Rowan jumped in front 2-0 in the bottom of the first, but Rocky Mount tied it at 2-2 in the second when Collins Cuthrell delivered a two-out, RBI single to tie the game, after the first Rocky Mount run scored during a double play.
Rocky Mount took a 5-2 lead with three runs in the fourth, with Gabe Brown’s two-run single the key hit. East Rowan battled right back to narrow the gap to 5-4 on Zack Smith’s two-out, two-run double. But Rocky Mount then added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth after a two-out error, an RBI triple off the bat of William Barringer, and an RBI single from Grant Johnson, and went on to the 7-4 game one victory.
Rocky Mount senior righthander Jim Leggett threw a complete game, allowing just three hits and getting his 28th career victory, a Rocky Mount school record. Chris Berry had two hits to lead the Gryphons hitting attack.
East Rowan ace Corbin Shive was charged with the loss, falling to 11-3 on the season. Teammate Zach Smith provided the offensive punch for East Rowan with two hits in three trips and three runs batted in.
The Mustangs dropped to 28-4 overall while Rocky Mount improved to 26-5. Game two in the best-of-three series is set for Saturday morning at eleven o’clock as Rocky Mount seeks to close out the series and win its first NCHSAA baseball title since 1980. Game three, if necessary, would be played Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m.
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