Gurley tosses 3-hit, shutout gem

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on March 25, 2015 1:48 PM

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cellis@newsargus.com

Jordan Gurley knew he was in a rhythm from the first pitch.

It didn't take much longer for the Rosewood crowd -- and Lakewood -- to realize the same thing.

Gurley was masterful on the mound with a three-hit, complete-game 7-0 shutout of the Leopards on Tuesday. Rosewood (4-2 overall) improved to 3-0 in Carolina 1-A Conference play.

The senior was sharp from the start -- including a stretch in the second and third innings when he struck out five consecutive batters on 18 batters. Gurley finished with seven strikeouts and no walks.

"I was settled in right at the first inning," he said. "That's how it always is. If I have a good first inning, it should be a good rest of the game. If I have a bad first inning, it can get a little iffy.

"Once you get that first inning under your belt, it's a whole lot easier to pitch."

Gurley successfully pounded the zone, worked quickly to keep the Lakewood batters off balance and constantly located his pitches. His accuracy pleased head coach Jason King.

"Jordan located the ball well and I think he threw all of his pitches for strikes," he said. "That's obviously very important. He can throw all of them for strikes at any point. I was impressed with his poise."

At the plate, the Eagles got contributions from up and down the lineup. First baseman Derek Neal batted 3-for-4 with a double and two singles. Designated hitter Blake Dean laced an RBI double down the third-base line in the first inning.

Boone Moody and Bryce McKeel each added an RBI.

"I was really, really impressed with our plate approaches," King said. "I thought we ran counts deep all day. Any time you do that, you're going to force their pitcher to throw a bunch of pitches and it's also going to increase your chances to get on base.

The Eagles chased Lakewood starter Jeremy Sessions after just three innings. Sessions was charged with five runs on five hits while walking one.

The win was Rosewood's second win in less than 24 hours after a 5-1 win over James Kenan on Monday. The Eagles will play four games in a five-day stretch this week.

Gurley and King are confident that they can keep up their winning ways despite the busy schedule.

"I tell them to just not do anything out of the ordinary," King said. "Don't do anything extra. Take care of your body and make sure you get plenty of rest. Whether we're playing that many games or not, they should just try to take care of themselves."

Gurley talked about how a win like this in the middle of a tough stretch can work wonders on a season.

"(A win like this) makes us very confident," he said. "We really just have to stay confident. If you're not confident, you're not going to play good. If you think that you're going to play good, you probably are."

Rosewood plays host to North Duplin today.