Rocky Mount High squanders lead in seventh inning, falls to Greenville Rose

Rocky Mount High’s Isaiah Stewart (11) is tagged out by Greenville Rose’s Gregory Hardison (8) on Wednesday at Rocky Mount High School.

Rocky Mount High pitcher David Harrison (1) delivers to Greenville Rose on Wednesday at Rocky Mount High School.

Rocky Mount High’s Forrest Bell (2) reaches for the ball as Greenville Rose’s Cornell Powell (34) slides into second base Wednesday at Rocky Mount High School.

Pat Smith is not one for moral victories.

There are two ways to view Rocky Mount High’s 11-9 loss to Greenville Rose on Wednesday evening. Either the Gryphons gave their fans hope by coming as close as they have been to beating the Rampants in five years or they blew a great chance at a marquee victory.

Smith chooses the latter.

The Gryphons coach was at a loss for words at times to describe what happened as he team relinquished a three-run lead in the seventh inning, but at the end of the day it came down to the three fundamentals of baseball.

“They’re not as good as Rose teams have been in the past,” Smith said. ”Sure, we would like to beat Rose for their reputation and all that, but it goes back to the little things that we do. … We out-hit them, but we didn’t out-pitch them and we didn’t out-field them, so we got beat. It’s a game that we could have very easily won, so it makes it mighty tough to take.

“This is one you don’t forget, and we won’t forget for a long time.”

The game seemed to be getting away from the Gryphons (3-3) early as Rose pounded David Harrison for six runs in just four innings, but Forrest Bell entered to save the day. The senior threw perfect innings in the fifth and sixth to set the table for the Gryphons to tack on six runs and reclaim the lead.

Rocky Mount High’s four-run sixth inning was energized by a string of three hits in four batters to lead off the inning with a Rampants error allowing Harrison to reach base as well. From there, Rose (5-2) changed pitchers and cooled off the momentum.

Bell came unraveled in the seventh, issuing five walks around a pair of doubles to allow Rose the opportunity to not only tie the game, but take the lead. Bell came within one strike of ending the game on two consecutive batters, but issued a bases-loading walk on a 3-2 offering and then Greg Hardison lined a 1-2 pitch down the right field line for a bases-clearing double.

“It just all went to pieces in that inning,” Smith said. ”If we would have held on to win this game … we would be 4-2 and everyone would be happy as all ****. And now we’re 3-3 and lose a game like this and we’re down in the dumps.”

Rocky Mount High sent its best pitcher to the mound against Rose, but for the third time in three starts, Harrison struggled. The N.C. State-committed hurler threw more than 80 pitches in just four innings of work, surrendering six runs and six hits.

Smith said he is not sure what is going wrong with Harrison in game, adding he expected the junior to be ready to throw a complete game by now and not waste pitches with poor command.

But the junior more than made up for it at the plate, earning two of the Gryphons’ 14 hits against the Rampants pitching staff. Smith chuckled when he tried to figure out the difference between Wednesday’s performance at the plate and the one Rocky Mount High had last Friday against Wendell Corinth-Holders, when it amassed just two hits.

“We hit a lot Saturday morning, we hit a lot Monday, we hit a lot Tuesday and we hit batting practice before the game,” Smith said, ”Somehow or another a few of them fell in (Wednesday).”

Logan Pearce, who had hits in his first three plate appearances, credited the new coaching staff with helping to groom the Gryphons’ batters into hitting machines.

“Our new coaches have helped out a bunch with our hitting,” Pearce said, ”they’ve worked with us every day to improve.”

Greenville Rose 11

Rocky Mount High 9

GR 2 0 3 1 0 0 5 — 11 9 1

RMH 1 2 0 0 2 4 0 — 9 14 3

WP: Matt Burne (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K). LP: Forrest Bell (2.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 5 K)

by Josh Walfish
Sports Writer for Rocky Mount Telegram

Wednesday, March 16, 2016