Rolling up sleeves and putting in the hard work has been the mantra for North Surry baseball.
The Greyhounds had everything click a few times this season, namely in big wins over Surry Central, but have also come up just short in a few games. Close losses to Walkertown, Ledford and West Stokes showed that the Hounds could compete with the best teams around, but just couldn’t get over the hump on occasion.
Coach Daryll Johnson knew his team was on the cusp of something great, and that came to pass in a huge 11-1 win over Forbush.
It was a game that began in Toast Tuesday evening, was rained out and then picked back up on Wednesday. The game ended via mercy rule after the Greyhound piled on seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Falcons (6-3) have been atop the Western Piedmont 2A Conference for the better part of the last eight years. Forbush won the WPAC regular season championship four-straight years between 2016-2019, and could’ve contended in 2020 had the season not been cancelled due to COVID-19. During that time, Forbush only lost five WPAC regular season games, and the only WPAC team with multiple regular season wins over the Falcons was North Surry.
The 11-1 final score handed Forbush its first conference loss this season. It also marks the program’s first loss via mercy rule to a fellow 2A school since April 22, 2014.
Night one of the 2021 game seemed to be evenly matched. Forbush’s Cannon Doub was walked in the top of the first inning and moved to third after teammate Adam Conrad doubled on a hit to center field. Dawson Graham grounded out to first to allow Doub to score.
North Surry retaliated in the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Ethan Edwards tripled on a powerful hit to left-center. Cleanup Andrew Johnson scored Edwards with a single up the middle.
Forbush got its second, and final, hit of the game to lead off the second inning. Logan Beane singled on a hit to left field. The junior safely stole second base but failed to get any further. Greyhound pitcher Zach Bryant got his second strikeout of the game, then the Hounds defense caught two pop flys.
Jake Bullin started the bottom of the second with a double to left-center. Bullin didn’t spend too much time on base, however, as Brodie Robertson hit a bomb clean out of The Kennel to put the Hounds up 3-1.
Two walks put Kolby Watson and Ty Montgomery on base, but the Falcons ended the inning before any further damage could be done.
After scoring one run on two hits and batting through the entire lineup in the first two innings, Forbush only put one player on base through the end of the game. Bryant walked a Falcon player in the top of the third, but the Greyhound defense kept the runner on first.
Forbush tried out new pitchers through the end of the game to no avail. Will Summers started the game and played 2.1 innings. After North’s Johnson tripled to start the bottom of the third, Summers gave up an RBI single hit by Keaton Hudson and another single from Bullin.
Spencer Hodges subbed in on the mound and ended the inning with two quick outs.
North Surry found itself back at the plate after a Bryant strikeout and two groundouts sucked up by Montgomery at shortstop. A flyout, groundout and strikeout saw North go three-up, three-down in the fourth.
The Greyhounds made up for lost time with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth. Johnson led off with a ground rule double that bounced over the left field fence, and was quickly joined by Bryant who hit a single.
Hudson had runners at the corners and absolutely crushed a pitch from Hodges. Hudson celebrated as soon as he made contact. He watched the ball soar over the left-field fence to make the score 7-1.
Bullin got on base for the third time with a hit to left field. Bullin originally stopped at first, but advanced to second after a Forbush error. Robertson scored Bullin with a grounder just out of the shortstop’s reach.
Hodges was taken off the mound and replaced by Beane after the eighth North Surry run scored. Beane walked James McCreary and hit Kolby Watson with a pitch to load the bases.
Forbush’s final pitching change came when Casey Graham took over for Beane after just two batters. Graham immediately gave up a grounder to Montgomery. The Falcons got Watson out at second via a fielder’s choice, but allowed Caleb Collins, running for Robertson, to score and make it 9-1.
A wild pitch thrown to Johnson allowed McCreary to score the 10th run. Johnson proceeded to hit a grounder to the outfield that scored Montgomery and ended the game.
Scoring
Forbush – 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, x, x = 1
North Surry – 1, 2, 1, 0, 7, x, x = 11
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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