Courtesy of Mike Ellis from the Jamestown News:
Ragsdale 0 0 0 0 4 – 4 8 1
East Forsyth 7 0 5 0 3 – 15 12 0
Ragsdale travelled to Kernersville for the resumption of a game that was postponed
by a severe thunderstorm after the Tigers had batted in the top of the first. With
East Forsyth coming to bat in the bottom of the first, the Fighting Eagles wasted
little time in putting this game away. The first three batters hit safely, with the
number three hitter, Landon O’Dell doubling to drive in two runs. Before the final
out was recorded, East Forsyth had sent 13 men to the plate and scored 7 runs,
highlighted by a two run home run off the bat of Garrett Robinson.
Ragsdale, meanwhile, went quietly in the 2nd – 4th innings, only getting two base
runners during that stretch. East Forsyth continued their assault by scoring 5 more
times in the bottom of the third to take a 12 – 0 lead.
With the ten run rule looming, Ragsdale showed some life in the top of the fifth.
Trey Swaim and Mike Leitner got back to back hits after two were out. DeSean
Anderson then lined a single to left center to drive in the Tigers first run. Ben
Fultz followed with a three run home run to right center to make the score 12 – 4.
East Forsyth ended it early in the bottom of the fifth. After picking up a run on a
sacrifice fly, Robinson ended it with a walk off two run home run to make the final
15 -4.
Garrett Robinson had a career night for the Fighting Eagles. The big first baseman
went 4 for 4 with three home runs, 7 RBI’s and 3 runs scored. Landon O’Dell was 3
for 3 with a double, 3 RBI’s and 3 runs scored. Zac Joyce also had a home run for
East Forsyth. Shane Dickerson went the distance on the mound to pick up the win.
Dickerson gave up 8 hits and 4 earned runs, struck out 5 and did not walk a batter
over 5 innings of work.
DeSean Anderson was 2 for 3 for the Tigers with an RBI. Ben Fultz was 1 for 3 with
a home run, his eight of the year, and 3 RBI’s. Zach Hodges went 2 for 3.
Billy Stone started on the hill for the Tigers, but just could not find his rhythm
as he could not make it out of the first inning in falling to 4 – 1 for the year.
With the win, East Forsyth takes over the top spot in the Piedmont Triad with a 7 –
1 record. Ragsdale drops to second by half a game over third place Glenn with a 6 –
2 mark. Ragsdale is scheduled to face Northwest Guilford tonight at 7:00 PM at
home, weather permitting, followed by a home game with Glenn on Wednesday. Next up
for East Forsyth is a home game with Southwest Guilford on Friday.
PIEDMONT TRIAD CONFERENCE STANDINGS
BASEBALL
W L PCT GB
1 East Forsyth 7 – 1 0.875 –
2 Ragsdale 6 – 2 0.750 1
3 Glenn 5 – 2 0.714 1 1/2
4 Southwest Guilford 5 – 3 0.625 2
5 Northwest Guilford 3 – 6 0.333 4 1/2
6 Parkland 2 – 6 0.250 5
7 High Point Central 0 – 8 0.000 7
Ragsdale is out of pitching. Losing Sparks hurts both on the mound and behind the plate. He wasn’t a great pitcher but provided some depth. They just need some arms. It looked like Maness threw in the towel last night early to save some arms for the next 2 nights. He also didn’t have many substitution options. Whited had to go to catcher so Carstens could pitch.
Resuming the game and having to use the original lineup hurt also. Swaim was DH and Sparks was behind the plate in the original lineup. With Sparks unable to go at catcher, had to take him out of the lineup when play resumed and couldn’t put him at DH. That left Carstens as only option as catcher, moved Hodges off first to third and inserted Morrison in Sparks spot in the batting order. Wasn’t pretty. Whited did a good job as the “emergency” catcher while Carstens pitched.
Very surprised at the storyline of this game. Thought Ragsdale may come back to life after a tough loss on Friday. Just goes to show you that in the PT-4A that you have to come to play each time out.
I thought EF looked very good last night and have felt they were strong all year. They hit through the lineup, have more quality pitching than anyone else, and have a lot of seniors and juniors. I could see this team making a good run in the playoffs. Even though Ragsdale had some things going against them last night with players, substitutions available, 4 games in a row for a short pitching staff, EF looked really good.
Unfortuanate this game could not have been played when originally scheduled. ragsdale coach saw weather forecast was bad and asked EF to move it up a day and they declined. Then he asked if the JV and Varsity games could be switched since the rain wasn’t coming in until around 7-8. Again, no luck. Sure enough, Jv played and Varsity rained out. That left ragsdale having to play 4 games in a row. Then they lose a sr. pitcher between the rainout date and yesterday’s game. May not have made a difference but all played right into EF coaches hands.
Jackie, you may have been surprised but no one else was. EF is very strong and Ragsdale was short-handed.
Tough spot Ragsdale finds themselves in this week. At least now I understand why Whited was the emergency catcher. It’s tough when you have one injured, one pitching and one locked in as DH due to the game carry over. Losing Sparks in the rotation really hurts. He proved he can still hit the ball against SWG but losing his toughness behind the plate on top the innings he could give on the mound makes a tough stretch even tougher.
Not sure who Maness throws tonight. I would assume Southcott, saving Hodges for Glenn tomorrow night. Of course both nights may end up being Johnny Wholestaff for a few innings each.
Pitching depth was always a concern for this year’s team. The team has excelled through a tough schedule so far, more so than most expected. Just hope they can hang on the next two weeks to get a decent playoff seed.
East Forsyth looked very good. Kevin is correct, yesterday did not set up well for us but regardless, EF looked very good. They were easily the better team yesterday. Congrats on the win.
what happened to sparks? i really admired his toughness behind the plate!! he is a gamer, for sure.
hope it’s nothing major.
eddie willis
Partially torn Ulna for Sparks. Either rehab or worse. Done throwing for a long time. It showed tonight behind the plate as 4 runs score on passed balls, 3 of them were strikes. Hard to watch if you know him.