North Duplin shuts out Jones Sr.

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on May 10, 2013 1:47 PM

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CALYPSO -- North Duplin jumped on top early and never looked back in a 4-0 win over Jones Senior in the opening round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A state playoffs on Thursday night.

The Rebels entertain either West Columbus or Pender on Tuesday.

"Pitching and defense wins in the playoffs," North Duplin head coach James Hobbs said. "We have played pretty good defense most of the season and tonight we got a shutout on the mound as well."

The Rebels (16-6 overall) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Ced Kornegay reached on an error, moved into scoring position on Trey Pate's single and scored on a second Trojans' miscue.

The story was similar in the second inning. Charlie Mac Holloman reached on an error and scored on Kornegay's RBI base hit to make the score 2-0.

Holloman broke the game open in the third inning with a two-run single that plated Pate and Taylan Lewis, and pushed the Rebels ahead 4-0.

"We did not get a lot of hits tonight, but we did get some timely hits," Hobbs said. "Getting ahead early kind of took the pressure off the defense and Trey Pate made the lead hold up."

Pate was outstanding on the mound. The right-hander allowed just three hits during his complete-game shutout. Pate threw 127 pitches on the night.

"He got into some jams, but he pitched his way out of them," Hobbs said. "In the playoffs there are going to be times when the other team gets runners in scoring position. That is when a pitcher has to remain calm and get a ground ball or a strikeout."

Will Price suffered the loss for Jones Senior. Price allowed just one earned run over five innings of work, but was hurt by four Trojan errors and two passed balls.