2015 Deacon Jones Invitational: Panthers, Bulldogs reach title game

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 10, 2015 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

PRINCETON -- Spring Creek's second matchup with Princeton resulted in a different outcome Thursday evening.

The Bulldogs, with the help of Mother Nature, claimed a 6-2, weather-shortened victory on opening day of the 2015 Deacon Jones Invitational on the Fred Bartholomew Jr. Athletic Complex baseball diamond.

North Johnston staged a sixth-inning rally and fended off a Rosewood threat in the seventh to win 6-5. The loss snapped the Eagles' six-game win streak.

The two-day Invitational concludes today. Wayne County foes Spring Creek (4-5 overall) and Rosewood (6-3) square off at 1 p.m. for third-place honors.

Princeton (7-5 overall) faces county archrival North Johnston in the championship game at approximately 3 p.m. According to Invitational records archived since 2004, it's the first-ever all-Johnston County final.

Two outs into the sixth inning, umpires suspended the SC-Princeton game due to lightning and directed each team to its respective dugout. Some fans packed their gear and headed toward the parking lot, while others stuck around.

After a lengthy delay and as the severe thunderstorm continued to approach the area, the umpires declared the game official since it had surpassed the required 4 1/2 innings.

"I hate we didn't get to finish it, too, now because that's a quality guy (SC head coach Heath Whitfield) over there ... good people and you want to do the right thing," PHS head coach Bruce Proctor said. "It is what it is, I guess."

The Gators loaded the bases on two hit batters and an infield error, but couldn't scratch out a run in the top half of the first innings.

The Bulldogs manufactured four runs in their half.

Spring Creek right-hander Will Rouse plunked lead-off batter Alex Hickman, who was replaced by courtesy runner Jarrett Pearce. Nick Phillips singled and winning pitcher Michael Daughtry walked to load the bases.

An RBI sacrifice fly, a groundout and an infield error put Princeton in command.

"The first inning we just were not mentally ready to play, I didn't think," said Whitfield, whose team defeated PHS 11-5 almost two weeks ago.

"That was the difference in the ballgame. I thought Princeton played well and ready to play, I told the guys that during infield (warm-ups) that I could see it in their eyes. They had a great round of infield.

"I said 'those boys are ready to play. They're ready to whup our butts and we've got to match that.' We didn't, obviously."

Daughtry limited the Gators to a single run in the second and fourth innings. Trey Hammonds' lead-off single and Levi Miller's sac bunt shaved the deficit to 4-1.

Down 6-1, Hammonds scored on Logan Miller's fielder's choice groundout. Spring Creek finished with three hits and Miller tossed 2 2/3 innings of no-hit, two-strikeout relief behind Rouse.

"The only bright spots were Trey offensively and Logan pitching," Whitfield said.

In the opener, Rosewood's defense forced North Johnston to leave the bases loaded in the second and third innings. The Eagles moved in front 3-1 in the third on Derek Neal's two-RBI single and Ethan Chapin's RBI base knock.

Neal finished the day 3-for-4 with two RBI.

Left-hander Jordan Gurley kept the Panthers at bay before Nick Neal took the mound in relief in the fifth. He retired all three batters he faced, but couldn't duplicate that success in the sixth.

The Panthers strung together four consecutive hits and plated two runs on a squeeze bunt that resulted in two errors. Nine batters later, the two-run deficit turned into a 6-3 advantage.

"We had an opportunity to make a big second out and we missed the play," Rosewood head coach Jason King said. "Like I said, it's baseball. You want to be able to execute every single time the baseball is hit to you, and sometimes you don't.

"I challenged the guys to learn from those mistakes."

Rosewood climbed to within 6-5 in the seventh on Neal's RBI groundout and Jacob DuBose's two-out, RBI double into right-center field. But DuBose (3-for-3, two RBI) was left stranded when Panthers' right-hander Dylan Radford induced a game-ending groundout.