The Northeast Guilford Rams picked up their first win of the baseball season Wednesday night at Grimsley. It was a very cool evening for high school baseball but the cool air didn’t take full effect until the sun went down and the wind started to kick a bit.
The non-conference affair got under way at 6pm and this game was a rematch between these two Guilford County clubs. Grimsley took the first meeting which was played at Northeast back earlier in the month. Tonight this game was giong the way of the Rams and in the process of taking the 5-3 victory, NEG gained their first win of the year. I had seen NEG on two previous occasions and in those contests the Rams fell to Northwest and Page.
NEG had been the victim of some tough luck throughout their losing streak but on this cold March night the Whirlies were on the receiving end of the bad side of lady luck. It was a tough luck outing for Whirlie starting pitcher Clint Moore.
Moore started a bit slow but he picked up steam after his Whirlies had battled back from a 3-1 deficit to tie things up 3-3 in the 6th inning. Moore seemed to get stronger as the game moved on and did a nice job of mixing up his pitches and picked off two NEG runners with his moves to the bag. I believe he got a man leaning off of 3rd and then picked off another runner at 1st. Moore surrendered 3 doubles to NEG batters early in the game but it didn’t do any major damage to his team’s chances.
There was a call on a foul ball that went down the infield line toward the 3rd base bag and the home plate umpire called the ball fair and that became a rallying point in the game for Northeast. The Rams scored two runs in the critical top of the 7th and took Grimsley out, three men up-three men down in the bottom of the inning and the Rams had their first win of the season.
Northeast outhit the Whirlies 10-5 and Grimsley committed 4 crucial errors. Chris Stephens and Jake Battles continued to lead the Rams at the plate and Nathan Cockman worked a steady game behind the plate catching all the way for the Rams as he has done all season.
Ian Phillips picked up the win for NEG and Stevie Todd who came in the pitch the top of the 7th with the score tied at 3-3 took the loss after NEG plated 2 runs to win the game 5-3. It is always fun to watch an Alan Ashkinazy coached team and all you need to do is sit there and listen and you will learn something.
Alan corrected the umpire on more than one occasion and Alan knew the call and the home plate umpire did not. Alan knows his stuff and he worked his catcher Gabe hard but I’m sure the kid will learn much if he listens to Alan.
Again it was a cold night out at Grimsely and AD Neil Hatcher has a busy week remaining with the Whirlies at home again on Thursday and Friday. Coach Ashkinazy had boys taking batting practice after the game so you know Alan will have his guys ready when they take the field next time out.