Lay Lay Brown goes down, but Grimsley tops NWG 9-7 in the Spring Sports Report

The big game at Grimsley yesterday afternoon went to the Whirlies and they have now tied Northwest Guilford for second place in the Metro 4-A conference. It is a dead heat at #2 with NWG winning at Northwest 5-4 and now the Whirlies getting the win 9-7 on Tuesday afternoon.

Two very sharp pitchers started on the mound for the Whirlies(11-5/4-2) and the Vikings(11-5/4-2) and the relievers were equally as efficient. Grimsley sent a couple of lefthanders out there yesterday afternoon and the senior Jon Wilkinson got the opening assignment and he was followed by the freshman George Carter. Wilkinson got the win going 4 and a third innings and Carter claimed the save for Grimsley. Wilkinson was deliberate with his curveball that almost looked like a knuckle-curveball and Carter mixed up his pitches with a balance of curveballs and fastballs.

Northwest Guilford countered with Logan Self, a man who beat Grimsley twice in the regular season back in 2007 and the Vikings sent out Omar De La Rosa from their bullpen. De La Rosa is a young man from the West Palm Beach, Florida area who just moved into the NWG community this year. Self looked confident early but Grimsley got to him for three runs to go up 3-0. NWG battled back to go ahead 6-3 on the strength of the Robbie McIntosh three-run homer to dead centerfield and then the Vikings moved up 7-3 and they looked as if they had the Whirlies’ number again. Grimsley fought back with 6 runs of their own and the Whirlies roughed up Self and he had to leave the game. De La Rosa came on board and NWG had him warming already in hopes that he could come in for Self with a lead and that Omar might be the man to close out the Whirlies. De La Rosa throws with a lot of energy and he has a strong leg-kick.

Grimsley had let NWG back into the game and then Whirlies re-gained the advantage and with Carter on the mound they seemed to be in good shape. Carter had committed a key error earlier in the contest that has opened the door to let NWG go out in front but the freshman more than made up for the miscue with his hitting and late-game work on the hill.

Grimsley freshman Lay Lay(Lashawn) Brown was playing great out in centerfield(he made one heck of a diving catch in the first inning) and he had a double and a run driven in to go with two runs scored but he fouled a ball off of his forehead and he went down hard at home plate. Brown laid on his back in pain and then he rolled over on his stomach and after a long wait he was finally able to get up and walk off with the help from some Whirlie teammates. Brown plays football at RB/DB but that may have been the hardest shot he’s ever taken, fouling the ball off of his forehead. Sawyer Highfill came on to replace Brown and don’t forget the musical reference, if you merge the two names, then you have Sawyer Brown.

For Grimsley senior Pat Oeschli drove in two runs, George Carter had 2RBI’s, Gabe Dimock had an RBI, and Matt Nettesheim had an RBI. Carter goes 3-4 with a double, Nettesheim was 2-3 with a double, and Gabe Dimock goes 2-3. For NWG Robbie McIntosh had that 3-run homer which brought home three RBI’s, Correy McKinney was 2-3, and Phillip Dixon along with Eric Presnell both went 2-4.

This turned out to be a great game as far as the back and forth action goes and we will report more on this game later today if time allows.

If you want to know what may have set the stage for what turned out to be the difference in this game, look no further than when Northwest walked through the gate at Grimsley. Two young high school girls from Grimsley had worked hard getting ready for the game and they put a Grimsley spirit poster up at the entrance gate at Grimsley. As the NWG players walked through the gate to enter the facilities they tore down that Grimsley poster and took it with them to their dugout. In the end Grimsley proved that you can not steal the heart of a champion, it is not there for the taking, and the Whirlies take the win over the Vikings. That might be a little cheesy but I think you get the point.

In other action from Tuesday it was Ryan Dull(9-0) and East Forsyth(14-3/6-0) over Page by the count of 11-0. Dull looks unstoppable right now and the EF freshman Josh Dunlap was 2-4 for EF. It was definitely a tough day for Page and now we will find out if the Pirates will throw ace Zach Kornblum against Grimsley at NewBridge Bank Park on Saturday afternoon. It was a big day for Southwest Guilford as they rolled past WS Parkland in a key conference game 12-2 on Tuesday with Esterlin Paulino having another strong performance. Paulino struck out 5 Mustang batters and at the plate Bo Rein had 4 RBI’s and went 2-4. Jeremy Hall(3RBI’s) and Mitchell Frazier had home runs for SWG and Ethan Ogburn was 2-3.

Jordan Townsend pitched a one-hitter and Western Guilford blasted Morehead 15-2. Casey Jones, Neen Marrero, Adam Causey, and Joe Turkson led the Hornet hitting. Eastern Guilford put the biggest score of the day up on the board with their 18-0 win over WS Atkins. Tripp Gardner, Nick Raynor, Jerreth Thomas, and Justin O’Ferrell all played very well for EG and you have to think that the entire EG(8-8/4-4) squad was playing well yesterday and you hate to say it, but it doesn’t sound like Atkins has much of a team. Southern Guilford(6-11/2-5) lost a close one to a very good McMichael(13-5/8-0) team 3-2 on Tuesday. No report on Northeast Guilford vs. Northern Guilford……Vandalia Christian took two from Faith to move to (10-4) on the year.

On tap today it’s Root Beer, no here are the games set to take place on Wednesday April 16,2008:
Western Guilford at Southwest Guilford
Western Alamance at Eastern Guilford
Northwest Guilford at Northern Guilford(I believe this game has been canceled, I will check to be sure and get back with you.)*****This game has been postponed and chances are it will not be played.***** Next game for NWG is coming up against High Point Central on Friday.

+++++Other numbers from the Grimsley-NWG game yesterday….Grimsley:Cal Suthphin 2-4, run scored…Andrew Justice 1-3, RBI…Andrew Faircloth 1-3, run scored…
NWG:Stephen Mekita on base with two walks and 1 run scored…Logan Self 1-4, RBI…Alex Swim 2-4, RBI, run scored….+++++

Any word from anyone on Ragsdale vs. Trinity from yesterday?

7 thoughts on “Lay Lay Brown goes down, but Grimsley tops NWG 9-7 in the Spring Sports Report

  1. Sox said,

    on April 16th, 2008 at 12:13 pm

    Grimsley did great. Jonathan Wilkinson got a great win for the Whirlies. Grimsley played great defense, had a great comeback, and deserved the conference win. George Carter came in strong in the 5th inning and finished strong. Logan Self pitched great for Northwest as well. All I have to say is, GO WHIRLIES!!!!!!!!!!!!

  2. Mt Tabor is playing Northwest tonight at Northwest. Game time is 6 pm.

    Coach Alan had the young Grimsley team playing improved defense and hitting the ball hard against Northwest. Coach Alan’s pre-game radio comments were on the money. The game was exciting with the lead changes.

    It was nice of AM 950 to put the game on the air. The radio games allow the local community and those relatives far away (internet) to get a good taste of the student-athletes’ talent in the area and exposure of the good sportsmanship that the student-athletes and coaches exhibit. We should strive to promote the positives to our commnity’s youth through sports and act as positive role models both on and off the field of play.

    Look forward to the next game.

  3. Interesting insight about the radio and I agree if a player or one of the coaches had a relative living in New York or California they could hear the broadcast over the internet and it might be the only time they get to keep up with their son, grandson, etc.

    More games on the horizon and hopefully a growing audience.

  4. J Will is one heck of a pitcher! (and a nice guy too) Saw Highfill is a hilarious dude. The whole GHS baseball team is amazing. I feel that I can sum up my point in this phrase: GO WHIRLIES!

  5. The Grimsley/NW game was a great game to watch. I hate our boys lost, but as a baseball fan it was a fun and exciting night. I have watched Lay Lay Brown play ball for years in USSSA, he is an amazing athlete. Is there any word on his condition? I have heard rumors from the kids, but would like to hear something official. The folks from NW wish him well.

  6. We will know more on Lay Lay’s condition on Saturday. Page and Grimsley are set to meet at 2:30 at NeweBridge Bank Park.

    Thanks for the comment from the NWG camp.

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