North Duplin senior right-hander Richard Noble provided two-plus innings of two-hit, one-strikeout relief and earned the save in a 7-4 win over Rosewood on Thursday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin designated hitter Brady Byrd collected one hit, scored a run and drew a walk against Rosewood on Thursday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Umpire Ron Fly calls North Duplin’s Garris Warren out at second base as Rosewood shortstop Landon Tyndall throws to first on a double-play attempt Thursday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin catcher Austin Duff hands the bat to Richard Noble after he fouled off a pitch down the right-field line during an early-inning against Carolina 1A rival Rosewood on Thursday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin second baseman Hunt Pate fields the late throw as Rosewood’s Cam Medlin steals second base on Thursday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin right-hander Erik Rosas worked four-plus innings and claimed the mound win against Rosewood on Thursday evening. Rosas allowed three earned runs on four hits and struck out five batters. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin third baseman Garris Warren grabs a high throw as Cam Medlin takes third base during first-inning action Thursday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
CALYPSO — One fact is for certain, the road to the 2023 Carolina 1A baseball regular-season championship will run through either North Duplin or Rosewood this spring.
Thursday evening’s affair between the two rivals is perfect proof.
Rosewood grabbed an early lead, but North Duplin — the reigning league title holder — regained its poise and triumphed 7-4 in come-from-behind fashion.
“We were fortunate tonight,” said ND head coach Colton Chrisman.
Charmed, indeed.
The Rebels’ pitching duo of Erik Rosas and Richard Noble labored every inning on the mound. The Eagles put 16 runners on the base, stranded 11 and left seven in scoring position.
Rosas and Nobles combined to throw 157 pitches.
“There’s no secret that we have two really good arms, but tonight neither one of them had it [and] they’ll be the first to tell you,” Chrisman said. “But the rest of our team stepped up in a big way at the plate and even on defense. We made some plays that we know we had to make in crunch time.
“We didn’t have one clean inning the whole game. For us to give up just four runs, that’s pretty impressive.”
Rosewood seized a 1-0 lead and kept the advantage for two innings.
North Duplin answered with six consecutive runs.
Despite a base running mistake in the third, the Rebels tallied two runs on Noble’s RBI triple to right center field. He scored on Austin Duff’s groundout to first base.
Garris Warren ignited a fourth-inning, four-run uprising with a lead-off double to left field. He stole third and trotted home on Tyler Johnsey’s base knock.
With two outs, Rosas and designated hitter Brady Byrd drew back-to-back walks. After Rosas scored, Pate and Byrd raced home on Noble’s deep shot to left center field.
“They did a good job putting the ball in play … two-strike approaches at the plate to give themselves a chance and hit the ball hard,” said RHS head coach Justin Willoughby. “They did what they needed to do with runners in scoring position getting big hits at the right time.”
Rosas encountered trouble in the fifth.
The right-hander issued a one-walk out to Anderson Clucas and Lassiter singled. Clucas stole third and scored on an error.
Noble took over and gave up a run-scoring single to Worth Best. He walked the bases loaded before Johnsey snagged an inning-ending low line drive at first.
Rosewood pulled to within 6-4 in the sixth and threatened again in the seventh. Best and Root Boren each drew a walk before Noble whiffed Jack Adams on three straight pitches to end the game.
“Richard knew he was going to have to come in at some point even when the game was tight,” Chrisman said. “I am very fortunate for No. 3 [Noble]. He has been putting in the work.”
North Duplin (9-2 overall, 3-0 Carolina) claimed its third straight win over Rosewood, which fell to 9-4 and 2-1 in league matters.
