Rebels' Pate has 145-pitch outing in third-round victory

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 20, 2015 1:48 PM

• Print
• Email

rcoggins@newsargus.com

North Duplin head coach Chuck Crumpler rubbed the game ball as he talked with his team in the post-game huddle.

Then Crumpler called one -- Trey Pate.

He tossed the ball to Pate, who received high-fives and well-deserved pats on the back after a phenomenal gutsy performance on an unseasonably humid May evening. Pate threw an astounding 145 pitches as the Rebels upended conference rival Rosewood, 5-2, during their third-round battle in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A playoffs Tuesday.

North Duplin (12-8 overall) travels to West Columbus on Friday.

Bent over and his jersey soaked with sweat, Pate looked like two different pitchers on the bump. The senior left-hander surrendered two earned runs on six hits and allowed 11 batters to reach base in 32/3 innings.

Over the next 31/3 innings, Pate looked like ... well ... Pate. He sat down 10 of the final 12 batters he faced, including retiring the side in the fifth and sixth innings. Rosewood scratched out eight hits overall, but just three came with runners in scoring position.

"Just the jitterbugs of a third-round playoff game on a rival's home field just kind of got the best of me the first few innings," Pate said. "It didn't bother me the first inning, I think. But the more I got into the game, I got better as I went.

"(Late I was) just getting ahead of the batters ... a comfortable lead when we got up 5-2, it's a lot easier to throw a fastball first pitch and trust it."

Down 1-0 through three innings, Boone McNeill stroked a two-RBI, bases-loaded double into the gap to put North Duplin ahead 2-1 in the top of the fourth inning. Hunter Jones scored the third run on an error -- one of four Rosewood defensive miscues on the night.

The Eagles (13-10) climbed to within 3-2 on Boone Moody's RBI single in the fourth. Pate logged an inning-ending strikeout with the bases loaded and pumped his fist as he walked toward the dugout.

Pate finished with 10 strikeouts.

"Our plate approaches were much better the last time we saw Pate, we tended not to chase things out of the zone," Eagles head coach Jason King said. "We did that a lot tonight in key spots with runners on base, and we should be looking to move a guy over. They were just trying to make something happen.

"That's a situation of staying within yourself and trying to get another runner on base."

Pate got some breathing room during a bizarre sixth inning. DJ Morrisey drew a one-out walk and reliever Jon Peacock struck out the next batter he faced.

Hunter Thurston walked. With the Eagles' first baseman playing deep behind the bag, Peacock attempted to pick off Thurston. Morrisey scored and Thurston raced to third base.

"I saw him throw it and thought 'what in the world?' I couldn't believe it. I saw he threw it behind the runner and I just ran," Morrisey said.

"I just got on my horse," Thurston said.

Thurston scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-2.

Rosewood threatened in the seventh when Jordan Gurley connected on a lead-off single and Derek Neal delivered a double -- his second of the night -- down the left-field line. But both runners stayed put as Pate closed the door with an infield groundout and shallow fly ball to center field.