BASEBALL: Rosewood slips past WCDS

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on April 11, 2017 10:16 AM

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The tension quickly bubbled to the surface in the seventh inning.

After having one hit through six innings, Wayne Country Day had the game-tying run on third base with two outs. To complicate matters, Rosewood's Boone Moody almost pelted Chargers' batter Ryan Hopes in the head.

Eagles' head coach Jason King immediately called for time and exchanged words with his senior reliever. Whatever was said, it did the job.

The next three pitches were pinpoint strikes, and secured a 3-2 victory for Rosewood Monday night.

"I told (Moody) just to trust his stuff and keep his composure up there," King said. "We didn't need a strikeout. We just needed a ball in play to get the out. He refocused and got back in the zone there."

Up to that seventh frame, the Eagles appeared to have full control of the game.

Rosewood pitcher Max White struck out five of the first nine batters he faced. It took him only four pitches to end the fourth inning and just seven pitches to stop WCDS in the fifth.

The Chargers first hit didn't come until Zach Barfield slammed a double in the fifth inning.

"We told them right there at the beginning, (White) is throwing a fastball right over the plate," said WCDS head coach Michael Taylor. "Typically the first-pitch fastball is right there, so let's try to jump on it, and that's what we did. I can't complain to the guys...As the game went on, we started squaring balls up."

The Chargers' aggressive bats began to pay off in that pressure-filled seventh inning. On the first pitch, Avery Browning smacked a single. Mitch Turnage used just two pitches to get a single of his own.

Browning eventually scored on a passed ball, and Turnage scored on a RBI groundout by Amane Godo.

But the Eagles seemed prepared for the adversity. It's something King constantly preaches to his team.

"Some people call it toughness, and you have to have that," King said. "I think a great deal of focus also has to come with it, and we talked about that. We talk about staying in the game a pitch at a time and trying to capitalize on every chance you get."

Derek Neal (RBI), Tucker Chapin and Moody (RBI) led Rosewood with two hits apiece. Kolby Harris and Tanner Bradley each tallied one hit. White -- who picked up his fourth victory -- struck out seven batters and walked none. WCDS' Jack Talton allowed seven hits and one walk in a complete-game effort.

Monday's game was just the third time this season that Rosewood has won a game by two runs or fewer.

King believes those type of games will help his team as it goes further into the season.

"We need to have some games where we really need to fight for it and dig our heels in," King said. "And that's what we did. (WCDS) is a good ball team. They challenged us right to the end."