Ragsdale jumps on top early and gets back in the Win Column with a Tiger victory over the Grimsley Whirlies

Special to Greensborosports.com by Mike Ellis from the Jamestown News, Guilford County’s top weekly newspaper…..

Ragsdale 2 7 0 0 0 0 2 – 11 9 2
Grimsley 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 1 4 4

Ragsdale jumped on top early tonight and went on to record a six inning 11 – 1
victory over the Grimsley Whirlies.

Ragsdale put two on the board in the opening inning as leadoff hitter Desean
Anderson got a walk and got all the way around on a sacrifice bunt, a fielders
choice and scored on a wild pitch. Later in the inning Ben Fultz singled stole
second and eventually scored the innings second run on a Zach Hodges single.

The Tigers blew the game open in the second inning as they sent 11 men to the plate,
got five hits and scored seven runs to make it 9 – 0 after an inning and a half.
Trey Swaim, Chris Armwood both singled and scored on an Anderson double off the
center field fence. Ragsdale loaded them up again on a walk, a Walt Sparks single
and an error before Billy Stone unloaded them with a three RBI double. Stone
eventually scored on another wild pitch and Hodges would wrap up the inning’s
scoring by walking and scoring from second on an error.

Ragsdale would wrap up the scoring in the sixth plating two runs on a Hodges bloop
double to score Duncan Sparks and Mike Leitner.

Billy Stone started for the Tigers and pitched two perfect innings, striking out two
to move his record to 4 – 0. Mitch Karstens and Walt Sparks followed Stone to the
mound and each pitched two innings, both giving up only two hits and Sparks allowed
on unearned run in the last inning.

Hodges went 2 for 3 and drove in 3 runs. It was also Hodges birthday, so Happy
Birthday Zach. It was a good way to celebrate. Stone was 1 for 2 with 3 RBI’s and
Anderson was 1 for 2 with 2 Ribbies. All 3 had doubles. Walt Sparks also had 2
singles in 4 at bats.

For Grimsley, lefthander Quito Carrig went the distance and picked up the loss as
the Whirlies fall to 2 – 7. Aaron Jones was 1 for 3 and drove in the lone Grimsley
run. Domingo McNicia, David Massey and Andrew Duda also had base hits for the
Whirlies.

Ragsdale bounces back from their defeat at the hands of SEG to move to 7 – 1. Up
next for the Tigers is a key Piedmont Triad Conference matchup with Glenn at
Ragsdale on Friday night.

8 thoughts on “Ragsdale jumps on top early and gets back in the Win Column with a Tiger victory over the Grimsley Whirlies

  1. Are you serious? It is amazing what can happen within a program when that program plays with the kids in the school versus bringing in kids from all over the county. Coach Simmons is a well-respected coach who has experience on the high school and college level–maybe it is time to look inward at the desire, commitment, and work ethic of the players in the program. I can assure you it is very easy to achieve success and be a “good coach” when you have good players. However, I would suggest that all high school programs have talent cycles–both good and bad.

  2. Coach Simmons and the program will be fine. His staff works hard with what they have. Sometimes you just don’t have the talent, so play with what you have.
    At least the team is all Grimsley players. Simmons and the team will be fine with time. If people aren’t happy you can always go to some private school.

  3. You must be kidding! It is amazing what happens when a coach takes over a program and actually plays with kids that are assigned to that school–talent levels run in cycles — unless you are able to bring in kids from all across the county. Coach Simmons does things the right way–he has enjoyed success on the high school and college levels. He knows the game and he expects a lot from his players. He is not only trying to help them win games on the field, he is also trying to help them in life. Maybe it is time to examine the desire, motivation, and commitment of the players from within the program. Baseball and the many “gurus” found in today’s game are simply amazing…

  4. They lost their top 2 pitchers to injuries before the season even began. They lost a starting infielder to grades. And a few behavior issues. They do have some good young players. They will be better in 2 years.

  5. Grimsley’s cycle needs to get here fast! If I am not mistaken, there last conference championship was in 1997 when baseball was better in the county than it is today. They were in the playoffs 2 years with a nucleus from SEG ( no comment on how they got there or their living arrangements or how honor is now such an important part of some of the people involved in that fiasco )—-but the bottom line in this county is that there is a lot of bending of the rules and the county only enforces the rules when they have a political initiative, there is a firestorm with lots of publicity, or they have no choice because everyone knows what is going on.
    My hat is off to Coach Simmons if he is indeed playing by the rules. My son played for him when he was @ Ragsdale in the past, and he does a good job as a coach. Trust me, his goal has always been to be a head coach.
    Eddie Willis
    PS. I heard @ the UNCG-UNC baseball game last night from a Northern parent that the AD @ Northern is a leady leaving and that the job is open 7/1/2010. Can anyone confirm this?

  6. Football coach Johnny Roscoe took over as interim AD at Northern Guilford back in December and he has been in charge ever since to my knowledge….

    Tommy Pursley did the same thing last year at NEG and then returned to the football field in the fall and NEG named a full-time AD at that point….

    Maybe Coach Roscoe will hold down the spot until the end of the school year and at that point NG will name a full-time AD for next year….

  7. That looks like another “bad hire” for gcs!!! who vetted the guy from chapel hill? what is wrong with the public schools in guilford?

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