Given what J.H. Rose’s bats have been doing to opponents all season, it makes what D.H. Conley starter Nolan Winfield did all the more impressive.
Winfield limited the Rampants to just four hits in the Vikings’ 4-1 win Thursday in a Big Carolina 3A/4A Conference baseball showdown at Ronald Vincent Field at Guy Smith Stadium.
Winfield didn’t necessarily overwhelm J.H. Rose statistically in his 6.2 innings — he struck out five and walked one in addition to yielding an earned run before reaching his pitch-count limit — but he spent all game staying ahead of Rampants hitters in the count.
“Getting ahead of all the hitters is the key to pitching to get them out,” Winfield said. “After the second inning, I felt like I was normal.”
J.H. Rose coach Ronald Vincent called Winfield’s continuing to stay ahead in the count “very important.”
“He kept throwing strikes and kept pounding the strike zone,” he said. “Good pitches at good times. A very good performance. We just couldn’t do anything with him tonight.”
For good measure, Winfield also had a critical two-run single in the fifth inning to give the Vikings their final margin and himself and Conley’s defense some breathing room.
Tied 1-1 going into the fifth, Vikings leadoff hitter Rooke Knittle singled with one out, took second on a fielder’s choice and scored on a what looked like a relatively routine fly ball by Riley Williams that dropped between Rose players in the outfield as Knittle raced home.
“It got lost in the high sky,” Vincent said of Williams’ fly ball. “There’s about a 10-minute period of time (in twilight). He just couldn’t see it.”
Jacob Scott — who was batting .425 with a .545 on-base percentage — was issued an intentional walk, and both Williams and Scott advanced on a balk on starter Andrew Wallen. Williams and Scott scored on a sharply hit single by Winfield to put D.H. Conley ahead 4-1.
“It felt good,” Winfield said of his critical hit. “With them intentionally walking the batter before me, it just felt good to get a hit.”
Winfield earn the win on the mound and, for good measure, also went 2-for-4 at the plate.
“He’s a gamer,” D.H. Conley coach Jason Mills said. “He’s a really good pitcher. He might not be a 92 mph guy, but he’s still young and he’s exciting and he really competes. That’s the biggest thing, at this age, is to be a competitor and we have a boatload of them on this team.”
Wallen took the pitching loss. He gave up seven hits and four runs — all earned — struck out four and issued the intentional walk to Scott.
The win pulled D.H. Conley into a tie in the conference standings with J.H. Rose at 8-1. The victory was the Vikings’ sixth consecutive and improved their record to 15-2, while the Rampants fell to 18-2.
J.H. Rose beat D.H. Conley 13-7 in their earlier matchup this season in Hollywood Crossroads.
“We always play well against them here — I can’t remember the last time we lost here — and we can’t beat them at our place,” Mills said. “RV does a great job with (assistant coach) Clay (Medlin) and their staff.
“It’s always a great rivalry. At end of it, though, this was just another game for us moving on towards where we want to be in the playoffs.”
Vincent and the Rampants won’t do anything different in preparation down the road in spite of the loss.
“Just stick with what we’re doing, and staying with the process,” Vincent said. “Keep it going like we have. We’ll be all right. Conley played really well, and they deserved to win.”
Jay Tyndall blooped a single to center field to lead off the third inning for J.H. Rose. He took second on a passed ball and scored on a single by Andrew Wallen to give the Rampants the early lead.
D.H. Conley equalized in the fourth inning as Winfield reached on a bloop single and later scored on a single by Davis Bradley that raced past Rose third baseman Ethan Simmons.
On Friday, D.H. Conley is scheduled to host Apex. On Tuesday, both teams resume conference play, with J.H. Rose traveling to face New Bern, while the Vikings are at home to face Jacksonville.
South Central 10, West Carteret 6
The Falcons withstood a six-run third inning from the Patriots on Thursday night, charging back with six of their own in the fifth and two more in the sixth to seal the win.
SC (13-4, 5-3) registered nine hits to the Patriots’ three.
The Falcons will seek a third straight win on Tuesday at Havelock.
North Lenoir 4, Farmville Central 3
The Jaguars dropped their first Eastern Plains contest of the season on Thursday night to the 15-3 Hawks.
Farmville (11-5, 7-1) battled back to tie the game at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning, but North Lenoir scored two more in the fifth and limited the Jags to a single run in the sixth.
North Lenoir outhit the visitors 8-5. Trey Williford tripled, singled and drove in all three runs in the loss, and Alex Moye was 2-for-4.
Farmville, which had won six straight, faces another tough test on Tuesday at home against Greene Central.
Greene Central 19, Southside 0 (5 inn.)
The Rams improved to 17-0 on Wednesday night in a demolition of the Seahawks.
GC unleashed 18 hits to Southside’s three.
Senior leadoff man Noah Uzzell was 3-for-5 with a double and six RBIs, while Braden Burress was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and five RBIs. Will Radford was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Noah Roberson and Easton Creech both drove in two runs in the win.
Riley Radford and Creech combined for nine strikeouts and two walks.
Greene Central (9-0 EPC) hosted West Craven on Friday night.
John Paul II 8, Coastal Christian 0
The Saints blanked Coastal on Thursday thanks to a four-run second inning and 11 strikeouts from Ethan Staton over five innings.
JPII (12-6, 5-2) got a single, triple and two RBIs off the bat of Noah Sugg, James Donofrio tripled and drove in a run and Max Mason drove in a pair in the win.
The Saints played at Faith on Friday night.
SOFTBALL
D.H. Conley 17, J.H. Rose 7
The Vikings led 5-3 after four innings and 11-7 after five before finally blowing the lid off the game with a six-run seventh.
In all, Conley (13-3, 8-1) accrued 16 hits to Rose’s six, and the Rampants committed three errors.
Amira Abulatifa continued to swing a hot bat for Rose with three RBIs, and Jameson Patrick (2-2) and Caroline Alford (2 RBIs) each had doubles in the loss.
Conley, winners of eight straight, plays at Wakefield on Monday and hosts Jacksonville on Tuesday, while the Rampants (6-10, 2-7) host Bertie on Monday before traveling to New Bern on Tuesday.
South Central 2, Perquimans 1
The Pirates grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Wednesday night and made it stick until the sixth, when the Falcons rallied to tie it and then win it with another run in the seventh.
South Central (10-4, 7-1) had five hits to Perquimans’ four, and the Pirates made three errors.
Haven Roebuck’s double and RBI marked the lone extra-base hit for the Falcons, while Kamdyn Haislip had two hits and Tellia Wallace recorded SC’s other RBI.
Freshman Hailey Mickey went the distance in the circle, yielding four hits and striking out two for South Central, which hosted Nash Central on Friday night.
Southside 21, Greene Central 15
Even 15 runs wasn’t enough to get Greene Central its first softball win of the season on Wednesday night in a wild game that saw the Seahawks outscore the Rams 10-9 in the sixth inning alone.
Greene Central (0-16, 0-9) had eight hits. An’nysha Wooten singled, doubled and drove in two runs, Anna Kearney also had two hits and two RBIs and Shelby McKeel doubled and drove in one.
GC hosted West Craven on Friday night.
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