Published: 05:06 PM, Sat May 15, 2010
Gray's Creek's rally falls short
By Jaclyn Shambaugh
Correspondent
A last-inning, two-out rally by Gray's Creek fell just short, forcing the Bears to bow out in the first round of the NCHSAA state playoffs.
Gray's Creek (17-3) scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh against visiting Hillsborough Orange (9-16) on Friday night, but couldn't overcome a four-run deficit, falling to the Panthers 7-6.
The Bears, who entered the 3-A East as the top seed from the Cape Fear Valley Conference, were an out away from elimination when Brandon Brown was hit by a pitch, later scoring on a single by first baseman Tyler Herbert off of Orange starter Cole Watkins.
Brown was 1-for-2 on the night with a home run, and Herbert was 1-for-4.
Then, Bradon Reitano, pitching in relief for the Panthers, walked in two runs to narrow the margin to one. But Reitano managed to salvage the win for Orange by striking out Caleb McNeil on a high fastball.
Bears coach Jeff Nance said the loss could be attributed to earlier mistakes made by his team.
"We had base-running errors and passed balls," said Nance, who's headed the program since its inception nine years ago. "Honestly, this is the worst game we've played all season."
Twice, the Bears had opportunities with runners at first and second with less than two outs, but ran themselves into trouble on the base paths.
In the second inning, the Bears, up 2-0 after one, had Chris Dore and Caleb McNeil at second and first following base hits by both.
But Dore, tardy returning to the bag after a pitch, was picked off at second by catcher Rob Schilke.
Dore finished the night 2-3 with a walk. McNeil had two base hits in four at-bats.
In the fifth, with his team down 4-2, Bears shortstop Stephen Nalls reached on a fielder's choice. Nalls stole second base, but was thrown out trying to take third when Schilke's throw squirted past second baseman J.R. Ray.
On the defensive side, the Bears committed two errors, and a pair of passed balls by catcher Jonathan Cribb allowed runners to score from third in the sixth inning, giving the Panthers a 6-3 lead through five and a half innings.
An RBI single by Schilke in the top of seventh put the game out of reach for the Bears.