Mount Airy’s best start in more than a decade continued Monday with the team’s fourth-straight victory, a 6-4 home win over Surry Central.
MaxPreps records for Granite Bear baseball date back to the 2008 season. In that time, no Bears team has started 4-0 and none outscored opponents 34-13 in the same span.
This by no means implies Mount Airy is unbeatable, nor does it say the team is a complete product or even where coach Weston Payne wants it to be. In fact, the Bears found themselves in a tie game with county foe Surry Central after giving up four runs on just one hit in the fourth inning.
Before the insane fourth inning, the Golden Eagles’ (0-4) best chance of scoring came in the top of the first.
Central started the game strong with a double from leadoff Dakota Mills. Brady Edmonds followed with a line drive to right field that put him on first and moved Mills to third. Granite Bear pitcher Evan Dorsett fought back with consecutive strikeouts with runners on the corners.
With Aaron Cave at the plate, Edmonds took off for second as the ball left Dorsett’s hand. The pitch soared past catcher Baylor Brinkley, prompting Mills to dash home. The ball bounced off the backstop, Brinkley retrieved it, and Mills quickly realized he wouldn’t reach home before Brinkley. Mills was stuck in a pickle before being tagged out by the catcher.
Mount Airy leadoff Dalton Nance hit a single to right field against Central’s Edmonds, who responded by striking out the next batter and then getting a ground-out before Logan Dowell came up up to bat.
A pair of wild pitches put Nance on third. Dowell was walked to put runners on the corners. Another wild pitch scored Nance, and then a Reece McDuffie shot to right field scored Dowell to make it 2-0 after one.
The Bears added two runs in the bottom of the second. Jackson Ferris led off with a triple, reaching home when Holden Poindexter hammered an RBI double. Ashton Gwyn was walked and, after an infield fly forced the first out of the inning, both runners advanced to scoring position. Poindexter scored on a ground-out by Zeb Stroup to make it 4-0.
The top of the fourth inning was not the finest hour for the Bears. Dorsett hit Kade Norman, then a fielding error allowed Payton O’Rourke to reach first. Doresett followed with two strikeouts, but then walked Dawson Payne. With bases loaded, Owen Hardy was hit by a pitch, scoring Norman.
Central’s only hit of the inning came on an RBI single from Ethan Leonard to make it 4-2. The bases remained loaded, and then Mills was hit by a pitch to score Payne and make it 4-3. Mount Airy’s Weston Myers took the mound, but walked Edmonds to score Hardy and even the score at 4-4. The inning finally ended when Norman flew out to William Mayfield in center field.
The Bears regrouped in the bottom of the inning. Gwyn was hit by a pitch to lead off, then Nance was walked. A sacrifice bunt from Stroup moved both runners to scoring position. The bases were loaded when Myers was hit by a pitch.
Dowell hit a hard grounder to shortstop that was thrown to second for the force-out as Gwyn scored. The throw to first for the double play sailed wide, which then permitted Gwyn to score and make it 6-4.
The two-run lead survived for the rest of the night as Central only managed one more hit in the next three innings.
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Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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