Knights bow to RMA in NCISAA semis

Next year will have to do for the Greenfield School varsity baseball team as the Knights’ dreams of an NCISAA 2-A championship crumpled in Monday’s semifinals 6-4 loss to Rocky Mount Academy

Greenfield, the No. 2 seed in the 2-A bracket, led 3-0 after two innings at Ralph Hodge Family Field but the No. 3 Eagles stormed back with two runs in the third and three more in the fourth. The Knights tried to chip into it with junior Tristan Stancil’s solo home run in the bottom of the fifth but the Eagles added a huge insurance run in the seventh.

“We couldn’t quite get that hit we needed and I give Rocky Mount credit,” said Greenfield head coach Daniel Johnson. “They got some big hits in that third and fourth inning to take the lead.”

The Knights, who had only lost twice since the beginning of April, finished 15-6 overall, while the Eagles will take on either top-seeded Wayne Country Day or No. 5 Westchester Country Day in the championship game Saturday, May 18, at McKinley Park in Asheboro.

Greenfield had six hits Monday to 11 by Rocky Mount Academy (15-4), all coming off Eagles senior starting pitcher Parker Sherrod, who exited with one out in the seventh. Jordan Wright got the last two outs for the save.

Stancil took the mound loss for the Knights after working three innings. Stancil gave up five runs, four earned, on four hits and two walks before giving way to junior Simon Quinn.

Greenfield scored two quickly on Sherrod in the first inning as freshman Jaden Frazier singled in a run and Quinn’s fielder’s choice grounder resulted in another.

Senior Josh Brown stroked a lead-off double in the second inning and eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior Christopher Tankersley.

Stancil led Greenfield at the plate, adding a double and two runs scored in four at-bats.

Wright was 3 for 4 for RMA with two RBIs while Dustin Proctor and Carson Caross each had two hits.

It was the final game for the Knights senior trio of Brown, Quintin Blake and Ben Little.

“I love the group we had,” Johnson said. “Obviously, you hate saying goodbye to anyone, but I do feel like I’ve got a hungry group that scraps and fights and with what could be coming back. I mean, if everything falls into place, I feel like we could be right back here next year.”

Johnson noted the loss of Zach McKenzie in an April 18 loss at Parrott Academy in Kinston was significant.

“He went down and that put the merry-go-round on positions, so to just keep right on winning was impressive with this group,” said.

And the veteran Knights skipper was downright impressed with his team that could return as many as 14 players in 2025.

“This group, honestly, they started together in the fall working out and playing in that (Wilson) Tobs Fall League for the most part,” Johnson said. “And they’ve been working together and you know, there are days I’m like, ‘Oh boy, what are we doing?’ I knew we were gonna play a tougher schedule, so yeah, to go 15-6 and be one inning away from the state championship, I would say they really exceeded everything I’d hoped they could do.”

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