By Ryan Bisesi
rbisesi@salisburypost.com
MOUNT ULLA — At the game’s most crucial point, West Rowan hurler threw one of his final pitches to his North Iredell counterpart Clint Jordan with two strikes and the bases loaded.
Swung on and missed.
And then the winning run scored.
West’s tough season resumed Tuesday night after the toss went behind home plate, allowing Zack Davis to score from third with two out. It was another gut-wrencher and indicative of the rough-luck Falcons’ first month of the season.
“That’s a new one,” said West coach Chad Parker after a 7-6 loss to North Iredell. “It ends up being one little thing every night that turns out to be a big thing.”
This time, it was inability to get a clutch hit. The Falcons couldn’t cash in on their opportunities, leaving 12 runners on base as Jordan tossed 126 pitches in six innings and Austin Hartness got the save, earning the Raiders their second 3A North Piedmont Conference game in two years.
Steven Wetmore walked with one out in the seventh and leadoff man Taylor Garcynzski singled up the middle to put the winning run on. Hartness then got Hunter Teeter to pop up on the infield for the second out. After Obsorne fell behind 0-2, he grounded out to shortstop to end the night.
“Somebody’s got to step up and get a hit with men on base,” Parker said. “We’ve got to maximize the situations that we have in the game.”
The first three innings were a stark contrast from a chaotic final four frames with West (2-12, 1-5) and North tied at 1. Chandler Jones gave the Falcons the lead on a double to deep right and North tied it when Jacob Speight scored on a wild pitch.
The Falcons rallied from a 6-3 deficit in the sixth with Madison Osborne and Chandler Jones getting consecutive RBI singles. Osborne scored on a wild pitch with two outs to knot the game.
“They could have hung their heads a couple times,” said North coach Denny Key of his players. “But they didn’t and I’m proud of them.”
After laboring through the fourth and fifth innings, Miller set down his fourth and fifth consecutive batters to start the seventh. Davis, Hartness and Luke Sloan then all coaxed walks to keep the inning alive.
Miller, a junior with an active curveball, fought through five passed balls, four wild pitches and two hit batters.
“Not throwing enough strikes,” Miller summarized his night.
North (4-4, 2-4) took the lead on Luke Sloan’s groundout to shortstop to plate Davis in the fourth. Jordan then helped his cause by driving in Hartness on the first pitch he saw for a 3-1 edge. West tied it with two in their side of the fourth, but North plated three more in the fifth thanks to a pair of errors on the West infield to start the inning.
“If we do a better job taking care of the ball, [Miller’s] probably in good shape,” Parker said.