North Duplin moves a step closer to Carolina 1-A baseball title

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on May 1, 2013 1:47 PM

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CALYPSO -- One emphatic inning helped North Duplin get one step closer toward a Carolina 1-A Conference regular-season championship Tuesday night.

The Rebels erupted for five fourth-inning runs and defeated Rosewood 8-3. A victory over Spring Creek on Friday assures North Duplin of its second Carolina 1-A title within the last three years.

"We've got a big game Friday and if we win we kind of control it and we haven't been in that situation in a while," Rebels' head coach James Hobbs said. "If we play well and hit the ball and we win, it will be ours."

Trey Pate's RBI double and Tyler Potter's RBI single helped North Duplin take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

Pate used the run support to his advantage and held the Eagles scoreless until Reed Howell scored on a wild pitch in the top of the fourth inning to pull Rosewood to within 2-1.

The Rebels (14-6 overall, 7-2 CC) broke the game open in the home half of the fourth inning.

Charlie Mac Holloman provided an RBI single and Bryce Best followed with a run-scoring groundout. Holloman later scored as part of a double steal and Cedrick Kornegay added a two-run home run. North Duplin sent nine batters to the plate during the decisive offensive outburst.

"We put people on and there have been times this year where we've had people on and we haven't come through," Hobbs said. "The last two games we've had runners in scoring position and we've had some big at-bats. That's how we've gotten two wins in the past two games."

With their opportunities to rally dwindling, the Eagles stranded runners at second and third base in the top of the fifth inning. Rosewood (6-14, 5-4) loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the sixth and managed to score just one run on Jonathon Cherry's groundout.

"That was a huge opportunity," Eagles' head coach Jason King said. "One hit could score two (runs) and then you string a couple together and all of a sudden you're looking at a two-run ballgame and we have to be able to make clutch hits.

"When you've got runners on base that's your job and we just didn't get it done tonight."

The Rebels scored a run on a Rosewood error in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Eagles picked up a run on Howell's RBI single in the top of the seventh.

Pate surrendered two earned runs on four hits, struck out seven and walked one in six innings of work to record the win. Mitchell Thigpen supplied one inning of relief.

Rosewood entertains Princeton on Friday.