Deacon Jones Invitational: Princeton bests archrival Rosewood in 3rd-place game

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 19, 2009 2:01 AM

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PRINCETON -- One day after having its three-year title run snapped, Rosewood seemed eager to take out its frustration against archrival Princeton.

The vengeance lasted one inning.

The Dawgs, anxious to gain some revenge of their own, erupted for six second-inning runs and handed the Eagles a 7-4 loss in the third-place game of the 2009 Deacon Jones Invitational on Friday afternoon. Princeton had lost to Rosewood in the previous two championship contests.

"We did what it took to win," said Princeton head coach Bruce Proctor. "We're still not where I want to be and I hate complaining after a win. But I want to be our kids to be more compassionate about the game of baseball ... more compassionate about anything they do.

"I want them to do it one hundred miles an hour or don't do it all. It's eating (at) me right now because I don't think we're doing that."

Rosewood (9-5 overall) grabbed a 2-0 lead during its first at-bat.

Dawgs right-hander Andrew Clough, an all-tournament selection, plunked Matt Neal with one out. Neal moved into scoring position on back-to-back wild pitches and touched the plate on Steven Bostic's one-strike single.

Cody Richards doubled and eventually scored on a throwing error to give the Eagles early momentum.

Princeton (7-10) went quietly in the first inning, but benefited from Rosewood miscues during its second-inning uprising. The Dawgs parlayed three hits, three errors, one walk, a wild pitch and a passed ball into a six-run rally.

Lead-off batter Patrick Jacobs supplied a two-RBI single during that stretch. Teammate Josh Bizzell added a run-scoring base knock.

"When you give a team like Princeton, as well-coached as they are, as many chances as we did today, that's what is going to happen to you," said Rosewood coach Jason King of the disastrous second inning.

"There is no magic formula. You just can't make mistakes and a team like Princeton is going to capitalize on them."

Rosewood climbed within 6-3 on James McNeill's fourth-inning, RBI groundout. Princeton earned the run back on Adam Peedin's fourth-inning, run-scoring single.

The Eagles scratched for an unearned, sixth-inning run.

Clough scattered five hits in a complete-game effort and logged a season-best nine strikeouts. He walked one and retired 10 of 11 batters during the middle innings.

"Andrew threw the ball well today and did a good job giving himself a chance to win," said Proctor. "If you don't beat yourself, you can tip your cap to the team you're playing and move on."

The archrivals meet again Tuesday on the Fred Bartholomew Athletic Complex. First pitch is 7 p.m. and the contest counts toward the Carolina 1-A Conference standings.

"We've got to somehow between now and Tuesday find out how to eliminate those mistakes (from today) because we have to come right back here and do it again," said King.