How T.C. Roberson baseball defeated Northwest Guilford to reach NCHSAA 4A state final

T.C. Roberson baseball coach Eric Filipek wasn’t sure if pitcher Nick Parham was available for a winner-take-all Game 3 against Northwest Guilford on Friday. But he approached Filipek in the top of the sixth inning and told him that he wanted to close the game with the Rams’ clinging to a one-run lead. 

Parham retired the first two batters. Needing one more strike, he took a deep breath and started his windup. 

The batter swung and whiffed. Parham turned toward his dugout, let out a large fist pump and hollered at his teammates. He fist-pumped again before being mobbed by a sea of white Roberson jerseys. 

“He came to me and said to me he wanted the ball to finish this thing,” Filipek said. “And to give us a shot to win it. Man, he got it done on the mound.”

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Parham helped the No. 1 Rams clinch a 9-8 victory over No. 3 Northwest Guilford (27-7) to send them back to the NCHSAA 4A state championship series for the first time since 2017. Roberson will face No. 4 Wake Forest in the state championship series with Game 1 scheduled for June 2. 

“It feels great,” Parham said. “I don’t have words. Everyone stepped up in the big moments.”

Parham was spectacular closing out the game, but the Rams (24-7) wouldn’t have been in that position without Micah Simpson. He hit the go-ahead solo home run in the sixth. In Game 1, he hit the walk-off home run to give Roberson the 3-2 victory in the bottom of the ninth. 

Simpson said he didn’t have a specific approach for that at bat. 

“Just a lot of faith and my team,” Simpson said. “Praying before that at-bat to give us another week. I was lucky to connect with it.”

Parham said Simpson has been on a tear lately. 

“He’s been the hottest hitter I’ve seen the last month,” Parham said. “He just barrels everything. I knew he was gonna come through right there.”

Simpson is excited because he gets another week with his teammates.

“We’re so close, and we enjoy every second of this,” Simpson said. “We just want to keep going, never end. Every game we can get to is another week of practice and just time with my family.”