Seniors drive Rosewood into 1-A baseball playoffs
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on May 8, 2011 1:51 AM
The playoffs started a little bit earlier for archrivals Rosewood and Princeton.
The Eagles extended their season after a 4-1 win over the Bulldawgs in the Carolina 1-A Conference regular-season finale for both teams Friday evening. The teams entered the contest with the final N.C. High School Athletic Association playoff berth on the line.
"Whenever Princeton and Rosewood play it is going to be a dogfight," Rosewood head coach Jason King said. "We were able to get out of some tough spots on the mound and it seemed like we got one more big hit early in the ballgame, and that was what decided the game."
The Eagles (9-13 overall, 4-6 CC) jumped in front 3-0 in the bottom of the first inning.
Cody Harris belted a one-out double and was followed by a single from Ian Speight. Will Winslow was hit by a pitch to load the bases and John Winslow opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning.
Logan Waters and Garrett Burns capped the inning with back-to-back singles that each plated one run.
The run support was more than enough for Harris, who held the Dawgs' bats in check throughout the first five innings. Harris earned the win on the strength of 52/3 innings and six strikeouts.
Princeton stranded 12 runners in the contest.
"We had some chances but we just couldn't get a big hit with guys on base," Princeton head coach Bruce Proctor said. "We left a lot of guys out there."
Trailing 4-0 in the top of the sixth inning, the Dawgs (7-13, 3-7) mounted a minor rally when a Rosewood error moved Josh Boykin into scoring position and Trevor Haynes came through with an RBI groundout. Harris turned the ball over to John Winslow, who retired the final five Princeton batters of the contest and earned the save.
"Will did an excellent job of getting out of some jams especially early in the game," King said. "Then John came in and threw strikes and was able to finish it out."
Rosewood opens the playoffs May 13 on the road.