Rosewood downs North Duplin on baseball diamond

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on April 10, 2009 1:46 PM

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Rosewood used an eight-run second inning to drop Carolina 1-A Conference rival North Duplin 14-4 in five innings on Thursday night.

The Rebels grabbed the early advantage.

Brian Chase reached on an error and moved into scoring position on James Kornegay's single. Ryan Wolfe plated Chase two pitches later when he reached on a fielder's choice.

"We tell the team every night that the most important game is the next game," said Rosewood head coach Jason King. "North Duplin proved in the first inning that they came to play and that they were not going to be overlooked."

The Eagles got their offense rolling in the second frame.

Cody Richards drew a lead-off walk and Will Beasley followed with a two-run homer over the center field fence.

"That was big for our confidence," said King. "It was our first home run of the season and it really got the guys excited, and got us going."

After the Eagles loaded the bases with one out, Taylor Price delivered an RBI single. Matt Neal plated two runs with a base hit and Steven Bostic ripped an RBI double. Beasley finished what he started with an RBI single in his second at-bat of the inning to cap the scoring.

"It always seems like it's one bad inning for us," said North Duplin head coach Joey Keefe. "Tonight it was eight runs because we couldn't get the big out when we needed it."

The Rebels attempted a fourth-inning comeback thanks to three Eagle errors that allowed three unearned runs to cross the plate.

Leading 8-4 Rosewood put the game out of reach in the home half of the inning. Price led off with a double and scored on Bostic's RBI single. Richards delivered a base hit and Beasley scored on Cody Harris' sacrifice fly. Scott Pate rounded out the scoring with a two-run double.

Neal finished the game on the mound by striking out the side in the top of the fifth. Trevor Cox pitched the first 32/3 innings to earn the win.

"Trevor has done a nice job for us including tonight," said King. "He pitched for me on the junior varsity last season, so I knew he could throw."

Rosewood (9-3 overall, 3-1 CC) faces North Johnston in the first round of the Deacon Jones Invitational on Thursday. North Duplin (3-11, 0-4 CC) will have an extended break before battling Spring Creek on April 21.