1A PREP BASEBALL: Peacock settles down, Rosewood routs Northside

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 17, 2017 9:59 AM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Jonathan Peacock never flinched.

Not when Pinetown Northside loaded the bases in the first inning and put two more on aboard in the second inning.

"I told him to command his fastball, throw that thing until they prove that they can put it out there," Rosewood head coach Jason King said. "Locate it, throw it and have confidence in it."

Peacock followed his coach's advice.

The right-hander wiggled out of trouble on each occasion, and received a huge boost in the second inning. The Eagles plated seven unearned runs -- the springboard to an 11-1, mercy-rule victory in third-round play of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A baseball playoffs.

Rosewood (22-4 overall) clinched its first trip to the east semifinals since 2014 and third overall since 2010.

"I was more worried with myself, than just trying to get through the (first inning) because I was having trouble controlling the stuff at the beginning of the game," Peacock said. "To work through those jams the first two innings was really big. Every now and then I had good control of the change-up, which was working a lot for me."

Northside touched Peacock for 10 hits and batted a paltry 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Grant Talbot supplied the Panthers' lone run on a third-inning RBI single.

The Panthers stranded 12 runners on base.

Peacock filed five strikeouts and induced four strikeouts to close out his eighth victory of the season.

"It was a little mix of everything," Peacock said.

Panthers right-hander Zach Griffin recorded a 1-2-3 first inning against Rosewood.

But the defense fell apart behind him in the second inning. Four errors, all on routine ground balls, and a passed ball sparked the Eagles' game-changing uprising.

Boone Moody, Chance Howard and Peacock combined for four RBI as Rosewood sent 11 batters to the plate.

"Wow...yeah," King said of the second inning.

"We just started hitting the baseball, starting running the bases, had some balls they feel like the probably should have fielded. If you put the ball in play good things are going to happen. We've been telling our guys that all year.

"We've just got to keep doing that consistently."

Senior catcher Derek Neal ended the day 3-for-4 and capped the mercy-rule outcome with a no-out, walk-off double in the bottom of the sixth. The extra-base knocked scored Howard, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Peacock, Kolby Harris, Tucker Chapin (RBI), Moody, Will Albert and pinch-hitter Conner Vernon each collected one hit.