Greyhounds drop playoff game to Blue Devils

A rough night at the plate led to North Surry dropping its first-round playoff game against Maiden 6-0.

The No. 19-seeded Blue Devils picked up two runs in the second inning, but outside of that neither team advanced past second base until the sixth inning. The No. 14 Greyhounds held the Devils’ offense under control for most of the May 7 game, but the Hounds’ inability to produce baserunners allowed the Devils to slowly increase their lead.

The resilient Maiden squad kept the pressure on and added two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings, while North Surry was held to just one hit in Tuesday’s game.

“Their pitcher played well and kept us off balance,” said North Surry coach Daryll Johnson. “He controlled the game well on the mound, he filled the zone up and he made us swing the bat. Even when we hit the ball they made the plays.”

Maiden pitcher Hayden Fleury pitched a complete game and finished with 11 strikeouts. The lefty limited North Surry to just three baserunners; Bradley Goins and Corbin Dollyhigh were each walked once, and Goins had North’s only hit of the game when he sent a ground ball to center field in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Despite the Greyhounds’ offensive struggles, the team’s strong defensive play kept them competitive until the final out.

Jonah Adams threw six innings for the Hounds and posted seven strikeouts while only walking two batters. Adams only allowed four hits through the first five innings – three of which occurred in the 2-run second inning – before Maiden added another two runs on three hits in the top of the sixth.

“They had timely hits and we didn’t. That’s what it boiled down to,” Johnson said. “These kids worked their tails off all year and had a lot of success. It just wasn’t our night tonight.”

Beau Carson and Myles Draughn combined to throw the final inning and allowed two runs on one hit.

Maiden (18-7) advanced to the second round and will take on the winner of No. 3 Morehead (22-2) and No. 30 Southwestern Randolph (9-14).

From Underdogs to Top ‘Dawgs’

North Surry knew it was in for an uphill battle after losing seven seniors in 2023.

The Hounds returned a few starters, but also incorporated multiple underclassmen with little to no varsity experience into the rotation. Players had to step up to fill the holes from last year’s team, as well as those created by injuries.

Despite the adversity, North Surry earned its first home playoff game since 2019. North finished the season 15-10 overall, was runner-up in the Foothills 2A Conference with a 9-3 record and reached the FH2A Conference Tournament Championship game.

“We had a good season, but I hate it for my seniors that we couldn’t send them out on a better note,” Johnson said. “They’ve done a great job this year leading us, and we owe a lot of our success to them. I told them after the game that you never prepare yourself for a farewell speech. I really didn't know what to say to them, but I just thanked them for their hard work, their effort, their leadership, and for guiding these younger players throughout the season.

“They set the example for what we want to be as a program, and I think the culture was pretty doggone good this year.”

Johnson added that he’s already excited to get to work for next season, and the returning players echoed that sentiment.

“We had a good season, but we know we had a couple of games that slipped away from us this year,” Johnson said. “We played like a young, inexperienced team several times, but other times we’d play like a very experienced team – that's just baseball. We get a lot of these young guys back, so we’re gonna take the lessons we learned this year and work on them in the offseason. That goes for me too. I’m going to learn what I can do as a coach to make this program better.

“I think the future is bright for North Surry baseball.”

Pitching

Maiden

Hayden Fleury — 7 IP, 11K, 2 BB, 0 HBP, 1H, 0R

North Surry

Jonah Adams — 6 IP, 7K, 1 BB, 0 HBP, 7H, 4R

Beau Carson — 1/3 IP, 0K, 2BB, 0 HBP, 0H, 2R

Myles Draughn — 2/3 IP, 0K, 1 BB, 0 HBP, 1H, 0R

Scoring

(19) Maiden — 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 2, 2 — 6

(14) North Surry — 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 — 0