ZEBULON- The 97th Annual North Carolina High School Athletic Association Baseball Championship got underway at Five County Stadium late Friday afternoon, with the North Brunswick ball club competing in their first title series since 1996.
The bats were alive early for the Scorpions, but Piedmont answered with a seven-run fourth inning and Corey Sikes settled down to finish off a complete game in a 9-3 win over North.
After Davon Perkins reached base to lead off the second, the lefty for the Panthers retired 17 of the last 19 Scorpion hitters as the junior improved to 10-0 on the year. North Brunswick had trouble getting out of the fourth as Piedmont batted around the order and took advantage of three Scorpion miscues.
“We made too many mistakes in that fourth inning and it kind of took the breath out of us. At this point in the season, we can’t beat ourselves when the other team is going to be fundamental sound. But we’ve had these types of innings and games before. We’ve played well throughout the playoffs with our backs against the wall and I think we’ll be fine,” North Brunswick Coach Dustin Medlin said.
With the Scorps down 1-0 heading into the bottom of the first, Jared Strange started things off just like he’s done all season, with a two-strike base hit up the middle.
Jake Shumate put men on the corners on the ninth pitch of his at-bat when the senior ripped a line-drive single to right. Tyler Barnes worked a walk to load the bases and Shelton Perkins scored Strange from third on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at one.
North Brunswick took a 3-1 lead after the first when Shak Graham cleared the bases on a two-out RBI double that hit midway up the left field wall.
“We hit the ball hard today and put together some good at-bats, but some of those hard it ball were just right at people,” Medlin said.
Shelton Perkins settled down a bit after the first and cruised through the second, but the Panthers made it a 3-2 ballgame in the third when Cameron Price crossed the plate after leading off the inning with a double down the left-field lines. Price moved to third on a strike out that got away from Graham, and eventually scored on a 6-4-3 double play turned by Randy Clark and Strange in the middle of the infield.
Sikes had help from his defense all day, with the first big play coming from his catcher Cody Purser in the second. Davon Perkins reached base with a single to right, but he was eventually caught stealing after Sikes recorded his second strike out of the inning.
“That ‘strike him out, throw him out’ was real big for us down two. It kind of got us pumped up heading into the dugout. North has some speed and to be able to throw one of them out early gave us a little boost,” Panthers coach Milt Flow said.
Piedmont’s seven-run rally in the fourth all started with a leadoff walk issued to Austin Harding. A wild pitch moved Harding to second and back-to-back hits by Jonathan Caldwell and Hunter Purser put the Panthers back out in front 4-3. Purser made it a two-run game when he forced North Brunswick into a throwing error on a hustle play from second. The Piedmont left-fielder tagged on a fly ball to center and the throw from the cut-off man skipped away from the third baseman and into the Scorpion dugout.
The Panthers scored four more runs in the inning, capped off with an unearned off a two-base error.
“That fourth inning was a circus. We threw the ball around, booted the ball around and errors are contagious. They didn’t make mistakes and we did,” Medlin said.
The 9-3 cushion was more than enough for Sikes as the southpaw sat down six straight until Davon Perkins picked up his second hit of the night to start the fifth. North looked to have a pulse with one out and man on as the Scorpions turned it back over to the top of the lineup. But Strange hit a scorching line drive right at a perfectly positioned player, Piedmont’s second baseman John Elwood.
The Panthers’ defense stepped up again in the sixth when Barnette made a backhand stab to rob Blaine Hollis of an extra base hit down the third-base line.
“We’re far from out of it. We definitely took some positives out of today’s game. I know we’re better than that, and we’ll show that tomorrow,” Medlin said.
North Brunswick is no stranger to elimination games, as the Scorps are coming off an East Regional where they came back from a 1-0 deficit to beat Northwood in a best-of-three series.
Shumate was limited on the mound in game one of the state championship, having faced just six hitters in 1.2 innings pitched. Kevon Perkins came on in the sixth and threw two shutout frames to keep Medlin’s options open for game two on Saturday.
“At this point, it’s all hands on deck. Kevon came on and threw two big innings for us to give Jake some rest. But we’re going to have to put everything on the line tomorrow and hopefully get that first one,” Medlin said.
Game two of the series is set for 11 a.m. Saturday. If North can even the series, a decisive game three is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday.
Box score R H E
Piedmont 101 700 0 9 11 0
N. Brunswick 300 000 0 3 5 3
LOB_ Piedmont 5; North 3; 2B_Shak Graham, Cameron Price, Hunter Purser; 3B_Cameron Price; RBI_ Shak Graham (2), Shelton Perkins, Cameron Price, Nigel Hester, Jonathan Caldwell, Hunter Purser; SB_ Nigel Hester (2), Colby Barnette, Jonathan Caldwell
Piedmont IP H R ER BB SO
Corey Sikes (WP) 7 5 3 3 2 5
N. Brunswick IP H R ER BB SO
Shelton Perkins (LP) 3.1 9 8 5 1 2
Jake Shumate 1.2 2 1 0 0 2
Kevon Perkins 2 0 0 0 2 2
