LETTER: Pinecrest pitcher performing well in playoffs

Pinecrest senior pitcher Bryant Kimbrell has earned respect locally, and statewide, as his Patriot teammates look to ride his strong right arm deep into the 2024 4-A baseball playoffs. His mound exploits aside, Kimbrell finds ways to win, sometimes by just taking a stroll.

With our Raiders out of the playoffs after a nice campaign, I made the short jaunt up the road to watch our conference foes host a May 10 second round playoff tilt against the Fuquay-Varina Bengals. For aficionados of pitching duels and tight defense, this one proved a treat as two Bengal hurlers — Gabe Murray and Jackson Semanisin — nearly derailed the Pats.

The evening was cooler than expected in Pinecrest’s fine ball yard, and the spirited, sometimes raucous, home folks reminded me of 1970s-era Raider games where gray-haired locals can still recall the venerable Pete Hogan celebrate Raider pitching prowess with admonishments like: “Son, go back home and tell mama that you hit a long foul ball in Richmond County!”

A little edgier, I heard at least one of the faithful label a well-proportioned Fuquay batter “Tubby.” Tubby nearly got the last laugh when he lit one Kimbrell fastball high, deep, and just foul before flying out to deep center field. Brison Strickland took advantage of the temporarily shaken righty by promptly homering over the high left field wall.

It was almost enough as the Bengals’ Murray nimbly escaped a bases-loaded third-inning jam with two strikeouts. His luck carried until two outs in the fourth when the Pats’ Dylan Floyd homered to tie the game. Meanwhile, the Pinecrest ace only got better after the second frame in a typical outing where he recorded ten strikeouts. But reliever Jackson Semanisin kept the locals at bay until two outs in the last frame.

Enter Bryant Kimbrell … and, I’m sure, a number of Fuquay second-guessers.

A long-time baseball adage warns the defense: don’t put the winning run on base. In addition to his mound mastery, Kimbrell swings a good bat; although, he had remained quiet this evening, striking out twice against Murray and Semanisin, with a walk. Still, the Bengals opted to intentionally pass him. After an 0-2 count, Pats’ third baseman Liam Dutton displayed a sharp eye, coolly watching four called balls for the walk-off 2-1 victory.

Next up is hosting 21st-seeded Wilmington-Laney, a club that is, impressively, taking a sub- .500 record into the third round match on May 14. While I look forward to following the Raiders in this playoff drama next year, for now, this one might be fun for us neutrals.

I never tire of making new acquaintances along the way. It made for a nice evening exchanging chit-chat with the 40-something parents of a seventh-grade daughter involved in softball, and a son who pitches for Pinecrest’s JV squad. As the winning run crossed the plate, I asked the very personable mom, “Can you imagine your son on the mound for that situation?” Her smile and shake of the head said: “Don’t make me think about that.”

See you at the park.

Douglas Smith, Rockingham