BOONVILLE — Mount Airy picked up its seventh-consecutive victory by defeating Starmount 8-3 on March 27.
The visiting Granite Bears scored at least one run in five of seven innings. The Rams put up all three of their runs in the first inning, but were held to just one hit across the final six innings.
“This is a big win for us,” said Mount Airy coach Josh Wilson. “Starmount’s always had a good baseball program, and they’ve had our number the past two years. For us to come to their place and pick up a win is really big.”
Starmount won its three previous meetings against Mount Airy entering the March 27 clash. The first of the victories in that stretch occurred in the 2022 Northwest 1A Conference Tournament and ended a seven-game winning streak for Mount Airy. Starmount then defeated Mount Airy in back-to-back regular season games in 2023 by scoring a combined 25 runs across the two meetings. This included a 15-5 Starmount win in just five innings when the teams met in Boonville.
The Rams looked to put up another high-scoring performance after crossing home plate three times in the bottom of the first inning. However, Granite Bear senior Brison George held the home team to just one hit and one base on balls in his six innings pitched. George recorded a season-high 12 strikeouts, making him the third Mount Airy pitcher to throw at least 10 K’s in a single game this season; Landon Cox has one such game, and Kamden Hawks has three.
With Wednesday’s victory, Mount Airy matched the seven-game winning streak of the 2022 team. The last time a Mount Airy team won more than seven-consecutive games was 1958 (via Mount Airy sports historian Doug McDaniel).
The Bears, who are ranked No. 1 in the 1A West in both the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s (NCHSAA) RPI rankings and MaxPreps Poll, also took over the NW1A Conference’s top spot by defeating the only other league team with fewer than two conference losses.
Mount Airy (7-1, 5-0 NW1A) made a few lineup shifts on Wednesday that left the team without a few of its usual starters.
“We definitely fought some adversity from the beginning,” Coach Wilson said. “We had a freshman in the infield, a guy who hasn’t played the field all year go to outfield, and a junior — who’s played outfield since I’ve had him and hasn’t taken a ground ball in three years — move to infield.
“The players that were out there really showed some resilience.”
Mount Airy came out hot and put each of its first four batters on base. Leadoff Rylan Venable was walked to start the top of the first inning, then Hawks, Ian Gallimore and Cameryn Wilson each hit singles to help the team score two runs.
Starmount (5-5, 2-1 NW1A) continued the hit-fest in the bottom of the inning. Leadoff Hayden Royal doubled, then Nohr Issa was walked. Mount Airy picked up the first out of the inning by forcing a flyout but Starmount’s next three batters got on base. A fielding error put Cody Hernandez on first and moved Issa and Royal to second and third, then singles from Brayden Snow and Wade Pfaff brought in two Starmount runs. A pickoff error by Mount Airy allowed the home team to score once again.
The Rams only put four runners on base in the remaining six innings. Snow had the team’s only hit during that stretch with a single in the third. Aydan Parks was walked, while Hernandez and Snow also got on base after reaching first on dropped third strikes.
The Bears, meanwhile, put up five hits and had six batters either walked or hit by a pitch across the next six innings. Ian Gallimore led the visitors with three hits in the win, followed by Cameryn Wilson and Hawks with two each, and Landon Gallimore with one.
Cash Hemric was hit by a pitch to start the second inning. Hemric moved to second on a single from Landon Gallimore, then both runners moved to scoring position on a wild pitch. Hemric crossed the plate on a fielder’s choice hit by Camdyn Easter, tying things up at three runs apiece. Hawks then hit a solo home run in the third inning to put Mount Airy up 4-3.
Easter was walked in the top of the fourth before moving all the way to third on a pickoff error. Ian Gallimore followed with a line drive to center field to score Easter.
The Bears’ lead stood at 5-3 until the sixth inning. Landon Gallimore and Daniel Smith stood on base with two outs when Ian Gallimore hit a single to score his brother. Cameryn Wilson followed with a single to bring in Smith, then a fielding error by Starmount allowed Ian to cross the plate for Mount Airy’s final run.
“All in all they stepped up and we played a good game out there,” Coach Wilson said. “It could have easily been a run rule game for us if we just put the runs on the board when we were supposed to and don’t lose it from the shoulders up.”
In addition to not getting comfortable now that they’re riding a win streak, Wilson said the most important thing for the Bears moving forward is to sharpen their mental toughness.
“When things don’t go our way we have to have a short memory because it can lead to us making mistakes, and we made some of those mistakes tonight,” Coach Wilson said. “If we’re going to be who we think we are, and we’re going to compete for a conference championship and make a run at a state championship, there’s going to be close ball games that mistakes like we made tonight will lose it for you. And it doesn’t mean that the other team is more talented than you; it’s because you made a mistake mentally and you lost it.
“So, the mental side of it has got to be a little stronger. We’ve got to be better in certain moments. If we can handle that, keep getting better and keep playing like we know we’re capable of then we’ll be alright.”
Pitching
Mount Airy
Landon Cox — 1 IP, 2K, 1 BB, 3H, 3R
Brison George — 6 IP, 12K, 1 BB, 1H
Starmount
Hayden Royal — 1 1/3 IP, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4H, 3R
Brayden Snow — 4 1/3 IP, 8K, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 3H, 5R
Preston Williams — 1 1/3 IP, 1K, 1 BB
Scoring
Mount Airy — 2, 1, 1, 1, 0, 3, 0 — 8
Starmount — 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 — 3
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