How Roberson baseball beat Wake Forest in Game 1 of NCHSAA 4A state finals
BURLINGTON — T.C. Roberson baseball's Nick Parham watched a ball and then a strike from Wake Forest reliever Fisher Canaday breeze by him with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and runners on first and second. He awaited the perfect pitch as his team held an eight-run lead.
Canaday delivered the third pitch over the outside half of the plate. Parham drove it to deep center, but it remained in play and catchable. The Cougars’ center fielder misjudged the ball's flight, and it dropped in, giving Parham a two-run double to seal the No. 1 Rams’ 10-0 mercy-rule victory against No. 4 seed Wake Forest (25-6) in Game 1 of the NCHSAA 4A state final series Friday.
“We got to put this one behind us,” coach Eric Filipek said. “We got a lot of work to do tomorrow. That’s a good team in that other dugout. We caught them with a really good plan today and punched them in the mouth and didn’t let them back in it.”
The Rams struck first in the first inning, scoring two runs. Then they added one run in the third and two in the fifth.
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Their big inning came in the fourth when they scored five runs behind six consecutive hits. JT Gordon had a twor-un double, and Reno Jeter had a two-run single.
“We were up on the plate,” Parham said. “We were just attacking the zone. Just putting pressure on them. A five-spot is hard to come back from right there.”
Starting pitcher Micah Simpson also was outstanding. He allowed only two hits and three walks while striking out three batters in a shutout against a roster with five Power Five commitments. Filipek said Simpson did a great job filling up the zone and mixing his pitches.
Simpson said the key to his success is the trust he has in his teammates.
“It’s the defense behind me,” Simpson said. “I’m trusting those guys behind me no matter what happens. Somebody pieces one off of me, I got outfielders that make a play.”
Filipek told his team after the game that it had an hour to enjoy the win.
“Don’t get too giddy,” Filipek said. “Say hi to your friends, girlfriends and parents. We’re gonna get back to the hotel. Take a deep breath. Understand, we play the way we were supposed to play today.
“But we got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. We got to go back and win one more.”