Prep Baseball: Carson 16, N. Iredell 3

Carson High's Zack Gragg (8) is welcomed to third by Coach Chris Cauble in game with North Iredell. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Carson High's Kyle Bridges (10) tells Kyle Young (1) to get down in slide at home plate in game with North Iredell. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

By Mike London

mlondon@salisburypost.com

CHINA GROVE — Carson's loss to North Rowan on Wednesday may have been the biggest baseball upset since Coach Buttermaker, Kelly Leak, Amanda Whurlitzer and the rest of the Bad News Bears beat coach Roy Turner's surly Yankees back in 1976.

Carson coach Chris Cauble wasn't interested in a repeat stumble, and that explains why the Cougars were busy running in the outfield on Friday while winless North Iredell was taking infield.

"We had a heart-to-heart practice on Thursday, but we still looked flat today and not ready to play," Cauble said. "We tried to get their minds right by running a few poles."

The Cougars trailed 3-0 after one ugly frame in the NPC contest, but then they got their minds right. They scored 12 runs in the second, hit the way they're supposed to be able to hit and wiped out North Iredell 16-3 in five innings.

"We got off to a good start, got some defense, had our bats going, and I thought that would give us a little confidence," NI coach Bryan Tutterrow said. "But take no credit away from Carson because they swung the bats in that second inning. Their coaches do a good job, but hitting like that doesn't just happen once you get to this level. Those kids must have been working on hitting since they were 5."

Carson (7-2, 3-1) sent 18 men to the plate in their big inning against North Iredell starter Nick Burwell.

Weston Snow, Joseph Basinger, Tyler Freeze and Zack Gragg had two hits each in the wild frame, and Patrick Bearden had a run-scoring single. Carson also took advantage of two hit batsmen (Julio Zubillaga got nailed twice), two walks and two errors.

Carson left-hander Jesse Park (2-1) was in real trouble in the first inning, walking two and allowing three unearned runs on a pair of two-out singles, but the big inning took all the pressure off. He had smooth sailing in the third and fourth, and Ethan Free hurled a strong fifth to finish up.

"I was a whole lot more comfortable when I went back out there with that big lead," Park said. "You don't get a lot of 12-run innings."

Cauble was enthusiastic about quiet bats waking up. Left fielder Gragg came into Friday's game 3-for-17, while all-county catcher Freeze entered the action 6-for-26 and 1-for-9 in his previous three games. Cauble dropped Freeze from cleanup to the No. 7 hole yesterday.

Both potential sluggers hit the ball sharply. Gragg's two-run double in the second was hit so hard no one would have been surprised if the baseball had unraveled like the one Roy Hobbs severely bruised in "The Natural."

"It was nice to see those two get going," Cauble said. "I pulled Freeze aside today at school and told him what I was planning to do. The move is temporary. We're just hoping to get him a few more fastballs to hit and to boost his confidence a little."

Freeze, a lefty-hitting senior, hammered the ball at a .385 clip in 2009, so it's probably just a matter of time before he gets hot. He has two homers this spring, but the singles haven't been falling.

"Wednesday against North was just a tough day for all of us," Freeze said. "My confidence has been a little low, but I've been working on some stuff. Today, I just saw all of the pitches good."

Gunnar Hogan's two-run single keyed a four-run fourth that enabled the Cougars to end the game by the 10-run rule.

"We all had a disappointing game Wednesday," Park said. "But a good team bounces back. That's what we did today."

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NOTES: Backup infielders Kyle Youngo, Avery Bostian and Justin Morrison turned a game-ending DP. ... Park threw only 58 pitches in an efficient outing. That's important because it means he'll be available for innings when the Cougars play South Rowan on Tuesday. ... North Iredell fell to 0-5 and 0-2 in the NPC. NI is making up a postponed game at South on Monday.