Deacon Jones Invitational: Rosewood blanks N. Johnston in title game

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 18, 2014 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

PRINCETON -- Maybe Jordan Gurley should get sick more often -- especially on days he's scheduled to pitch.

The Rosewood hurler battled a 101-degree temperature and queasy stomach most of Thursday, but showed no ill effects against an old conference rival later in the evening.

Gurley tossed six scoreless innings and allowed two hits as the Eagles claimed the 2014 Deacon Jones Invitational championship with a 12-0 whitewashing of North Johnston. Gurley permitted two hits and retired eight Panthers on strikeouts.

"(The sickness) sort of wore off during the day," said Gurley, who garnered all-tournament recognition. "I wasn't feeling my best, but I threw as good as I could ... just tried to locate pitches on the corners, get the curveball down and low in the zone."

The right-hander retired eight consecutive North Johnston hitters and 12 of the first 15 he faced overall during the first four innings. The Panthers managed two hits -- first- and fourth-inning base knocks by all-tournament selection Tanner Snipes.

North had just six runners reach base and struck out 11 times overall. Rosewood reliever and all-tournament pick Brent Breedlove retired the side in order on strikeouts in the seventh.

"Jordan threw the ball real well for us," RHS head coach Jason King said. "We don't like striking a bunch of people out. We like to play defense and we like for people to hit the ball, which keeps us in rhythm."

The Eagles certainly hit the ball, particularly the bottom three batters in their lineup. Boone Moody, Davis Jones and Jacob DuBose combined to bat 5-for-5 with an eye-popping eight RBI and six runs scored on the night.

DuBose and Moody each sacrificed their respective fourth-inning at-bats, which produced two runs. Davis delivered a bases-clearing triple in the seventh after the overall outcome had been determined.

"An outstanding job," a grinning King said of the trio. "Two of those guys haven't been every-day starters for us, but I gave them an opportunity today. They've earned it ... really came through for us.

"I tell them every day, the guys on the bench, to be ready when your number is called. They were ready tonight."

Rosewood finished with 11 hits, including a three-hit performance by tournament MVP Reed Howell. Howell threw a five-inning, mercy-rule win over Carolina 1-A leader Spring Creek just 24 hours earlier.

The Eagles, according to Invitational records available since 2006, became the first team to post back-to-back shutouts in tournament history. Rosewood (11-4) claimed its second Invitational championship in the past four years and fifth overall since 2006.

"Oh my gosh, I think it's the best we've played this season, to be honest," Howell said of Rosewood's two-day effort. "We had a couple of errors last game, but this game we were error free, we hit the ball all over the field with runners in scoring position.

"It was great."