MOCKSVILLE — Mount Tabor clinched the 4A Central Piedmont Conference baseball championship on Friday by beating South Rowan.
Now the Raiders hope it’s their turn to knock off the top-seeded Spartans when they teams tangle at 7:30 p.m. today in the CPC Tournament at Rich Park.
Fourth-seeded South (10-13) set up its third meeting with Mount Tabor (18-5) by downing No. 5 R.J. Reynolds 10-5 in the first round here Tuesday night.
Mount Tabor topped the Raiders 8-5 early in the regular season, then 8-4 on Friday in the game that prevented South from gaining a four-way share of the regular-season title.
“They always say it’s hard to beat a team three times. We’re going to be ready for them,” said South catcher Justin Pinyan, who went 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs batted in. He also threw out one R.J. Reynolds runner trying to steal third.
“I’ve been struggling a lot, and I finally started hitting the ball,” said Pinyan. “I’m coming around. Everybody else is coming around, too.”
Greg Deal was 3-for-4, and Ronnie Shore, Dan Hoffmann and Chase Goodale each had two hits.
The Raiders had 13 hits off two Demons hurlers last night and jumped out to a 7-0 lead behind sophomore right-hander Jared Wingler.
However, R.J. Reynolds came back with five runs in the top of the fifth to pull within 7-5. Two-run homers by Jordan Wesley and Elliott Weeks featured the inning.
“We’ve been up on them every game this year, and they always come back,” said South coach Linn Williams. “It doesn’t surprise me; they fight hard.”
R.J. Reynolds, which went 0-8 during the CPC regular-season, was held to one hit by Wingler through the first four innings. Tim Cook, who worked the last 2 1/3 innings in relief, pitched no-hit ball.
Wingler upped his record to 3-6 with the victory, while Cook got his third save.
“Jared pitched great. They(R.J. Reynolds) got into a groove in the fifth. They had like five or six hits. I think they had one hit besides that one inning,” said Williams.
Cook, who had lasted only 2 1/3 innings as a starter at Mount Tabor four days earlier, struck out five of the 10 batters he faced and allowed three baserunners via walks.
“Tim did well and got the save,” said Williams. “I thought he threw the ball well tonight. Every once in awhile he comes in and has a little pop on the ball. Tonight was one of those times.”
Cook says he enjoys coming into a game as the closer.
“Anytime they need me, I’ll throw,” said the senior right-hander. “I like that (closer) a lot. It gets me pumped up. It’s more exciting.”
He said he wasn’t at his best against Mount Tabor on Friday.
“I had just got over a sickness. I was real exhausted. I didn’t have my slider working, or my fastball. I just now got over it. I had a lot more pop tonight. Everything was working, so I got the outs,” he said.
South scored an insurance run for Cook in the last of the fifth, then pulled off a double steal for another run in the sixth. Ronnie Shore stole home while Greg Deal swiped third.
“We haven’t hit a home run all year. We’ve got to get on base, run around, put the ball in play and make things happen,” said Williams. “So, if we get a chance to run, we’re going to run.
“Their guy (pitcher Brandon Carey) had a slow wind-up. We gave Ronnie one pitch to see how far he could get. He said he thought he could make it, so we tried it,” said the South coach.
Williams plans to start sophomore right-hander Mike Davis (4-1) against the Spartans tonight.
“We feel like we’ve got a chance to win. We didn’t have any errors tonight. We feel like we’ve got to play that kind of game,” said the South coach.
“Every game now is our playoff game. We had to play well tonight to win, and we’ve got to play well tomorrow night to win.”
Davie County and West Forsyth, who tied for second place in the regular season, meet at 5 p.m. today in the other semifinal game. Their contest will decide the league’s No. 2 seed for the state playoffs, unless South Rowan were to win the tournament.
South has to win the tourney to make it to the playoffs.
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