North Duplin junior Tanner Kornegay tosses his bat toward the dugout after drawing a walk during a recent game. Kornegay connected on the game-winning, walk-off single that lifted the Rebels past East Columbus, 4-3, in a 12-inning thriller during round one of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1A baseball playoffs Tuesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
CALYPSO — Plagued by a nagging ankle injury, Tanner Kornegay shined in a big moment Tuesday evening.
Facing a two-strike count, the junior center fielder roped a game-clinching, walk-off single into right field and lifted North Duplin past East Columbus, 4-3, in a nail-biting, 12-inning affair Tuesday evening.
“It was his night to shine,” ND head coach Colton Chrisman said.
The fourth-seeded Rebels (21-3 overall) collected their second consecutive, opening-round victory in the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1A baseball playoffs. They entertain 13th-seeded Falls Lake Academy in round two Friday.
Game time is 6 p.m.
Tied at 3-3, Wesley Holmes started the 12th with a single. He moved into scoring position on Hunt Pate’s sacrifice bunt.
East Columbus pitcher Gauge Simmons intentionally walked Richard Noble, which set the table for Kornegay’s heroics. Kornegay concluded the night 3-for-3 with two walks.
“A big moment for him,” Chrisman attested.But even more fulfilling to those associated with the Rebels’ program.
On Sunday evening, Noble walked away from a two-car accident with just a minor injury. Despite having stitches in his left hand, he threw seven sterling innings in relief of starter Erik Rosas.
Rosas permitted a first-inning run, yielded two hits and sent five Gators back to the dugout with a “K” (strikeout) beside their name in the scorebook.
Noble scattered four hits, walked three and collected 14 strikeouts. The 29th-seeded Gators grabbed a 3-2 lead with two unearned runs in the top of the fifth inning.
“Richard was amazing,” Chrisman said. “He’s a different animal, true competitor. Winning is his number one goal no matter how he gets there. He came up big for his team in a spot we didn’t know we were going to be in.”
North Duplin knotted the contest at 3-3 with an unearned run during its half of the fifth. The Gators committed two errors that allowed Tyler Johnsey to score with two outs.
The Rebels scratched out just seven hits and stranded eight runners, including two in scoring position. East Columbus (5-16) turned three double plays.
“Every time we put the ball in play, they made a play,” Chrisman said. “We didn’t punch out at a high clip, but they didn’t give us anything. Man, they were tough. We made some big plays, some base-running mistakes early. We never gave up and kept fighting.
“It was kind of a ‘who wanted it more’ situation.”
Pate, Austin Duff (RBI), Johnsey and Holmes finished with one hit apiece. The Gators’ defense did not surrender a stolen base.
Esteban Santos Clark emerged as the winning pitcher. The right-hander logged one strikeout and issued one walk during the 12th inning.
Rosas, Noble and Clark combined to throw 176 pitches to 52 batters.
“That’s the best 5-16 team I’ve ever seen … tough, tough draw,” Chrisman said.
