Gryphons rout Firebirds in mistake-filled contest

Rocky Mount High’s Jamar Ellis (17) hits the ball against Southern Nash on Friday at Southern Nash High School.

BAILEY — Before Zack Keeter had even threw his 10th pitch Friday night, Rocky Mount High had already gifted him a 10-run lead.

The Gryphons scored 10 runs in the first two innings against Southern Nash, and the game quickly snowballed out of control in what turned into a 17-0 five-inning rout. Keeter threw three innings of nearly flawless baseball to give the Gryphons a second conference win for the week.

“We had a rough stretch where we lost some real close games and it was rough on us,” coach Pat Smith said. ”Hopefully, we’re digging out of that. I want them to feel good about this week because we had excellent pitching and two big wins, and we needed them after starting 0-2, so we’re happy tonight.”

Rocky Mount High (8-6, 2-2) benefited from an unusually inaccurate Southern Nash pitching staff that issued 15 walks including seven on four pitches. The Firebirds (10-7, 2-2) also committed six errors that led to eight unearned runs for the Gryphons.

Leroy Edwards, who entered the game with a 2.56 ERA in seven appearances, allowed eight runs and six hits in just 1.1 innings Friday. The sophomore struggled with his command, either leaving pitches down the middle of the plate or missing the plate entirely. The relievers did not fare much better as Dawson Sikes came on to surrender five more runs and walk eight batters in just 1.2 innings.

“That’s not been a problem we’ve had so far,” coach Todd Brewer said. “Leroy is normally spot on, Dawson has three wins, Leroy has two wins. Things just started rough for them and it just all went downhill from there.”

The Gryphons’ aggressiveness on the basepaths also helped to quickly pile on the runs. Rocky Mount High seemingly ran on every passed ball, scoring twice on that play and advancing into scoring position on almost a dozen other occasions.

But that aggressiveness also cost the Gryphons a few times, getting thrown out at third three times, twice for the last out of the inning.

Despite the number of physical and mental miscues the Firebirds made Friday night, the Gryphons still pounded out 10 hits in key moments with seven of those resulting in RBI.

“I know they’re not that bad, and we’re probably not that good, but you’ll take them anyway you can get them in this league,” Smith said. ”This one just happened to get away early and I’m glad it was in our favor this time.”

Rocky Mount High struck for three runs in the first inning, but really put the game away in the second when it scored seven times. The Firebirds committed three errors in that inning. Their other three errors came in the fourth when the Gryphons exploded for six runs.

Brewer took full responsibility for his team’s loss, saying he didn’t have the team ready to play in such a critical conference game. Although Friday’s result certainly seemed like an anomaly in what has so far been a good season, Brewer said his team needs to take the weekend to re-focus for the closing stretch of conference season, especially since four out of the six Big East teams are tied at 2-2.

“We’ve just got to stick together,” Brewer said. ”This is one of those that stings, but you got to learn from it. We’ve got to … go home over the weekend, think about how we can get better and make sure we’re ready to go Tuesday against Nash Central.”

For the Gryphons, things have began to click under Smith and are riding a four-game winning streak at the moment. The pitching has certainly helped with both Keeter and David Harrison throwing gems in each of their past two starts.

But Smith also cautioned his team against getting too overconfident with such a tight race ahead.

“We approach every day with a little guarded optimism,” Smith said. ”There’s no reason for us to get big-headed right now because every game is a dog fight.”

Rocky Mount High 17

Southern Nash 0

RMH 3 7 1 6 0 — 17 10 0

SN 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 2 6

WP: Zack Keeter

LP: Leroy Edwards

by Josh Walfish
Sports Writer for Rocky Mount Telegram

Friday, April 8, 2016