Rosewood bounces back, defeats North Duplin

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on April 29, 2015 1:48 PM

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CALYPSO -- The pre-game defensive warm up didn't exactly exude confidence in North Duplin head baseball coach Chuck Crumpler.

He pulled his players off the field.

The same defense Crumpler was unhappy with carried over into the game. The Rebels dropped four easy fly balls and committed four more errors during a 13-3, six-inning loss to Carolina 1-A Conference foe Rosewood on Tuesday evening.

"We just weren't prepared to play tonight," Crumpler said.

North Duplin started off well and looked to hand Rosewood its seventh loss in its last eight games. The Rebels scratched out two runs on two hits and two errors in the first inning against Rosewood pitcher Jordan Gurley.

But Eagles head coach Jason King didn't let his players get down.

"I've told these guys, they know, you can't live in the past," King said. "You have got to play this game pitch to pitch, at-bat to at-bat. And they did that tonight. They battled when things didn't go their way."

Gurley bounced back, allowed just three hits the rest of the game and surrendered one more unearned run in the final inning. He struck out 10 and walked one.

"You just have to know that when the defense makes an error they're going to pick you up the next time," Gurley said. "You have to keep throwing strikes and you can't let it bother you."

His coach agreed.

"Jordan always wants the ball," King said. "When things are good, when things are bad he wants the ball. That's what you ask for from a pitcher. Just want to be there on the mound."

Gurley, just the third lefty North Duplin has faced this year, mixed speeds and worked in his curveball to keep North Duplin off balance. He dominated the bottom third of the Rebels' hitting order.

The Eagles took a few innings to get going offensively, but in the third they scored five runs off of Rebels' ace Trey Pate.

"He's tough to face because he hides the ball well," Gurley said. "He also throws from the three-quarter slot so you know there's going to be movement. You just have to see it and hit it."

The Rebels struggled mightily with fly balls, and Rosewood took advantage of their mistakes. The Eagles also worked Pate deep into counts, which caused his pitch count to rise higher along with the defensive miscues.

"Rosewood did their job," Crumpler said. "They took him deep in the count, but those are at-bats that shouldn't have even happened because we should have been out of the inning. We just have to make the plays behind Trey. I thought Trey threw the ball well."

The Eagles scored five more runs in the sixth off of relievers Dustin Carter and DJ Morrisey to finish off the Rebels.

Ethan Chapin led the Eagles with two doubles and two RBI. Gurley also had two hits and drove in a run. Hayden Amodeo drove in two runs on a base knock.

Pate led the Rebels with two hits. Kaleb Brock had a double. Hunter Thurston had one hit to round of the offense.

"I think we can compete with any team in this conference," Crumpler said. "We just have to stop trying to be so perfect. We tense up in a game like this and we make some errors. But I know these guys can win some games."