It's Baseball Season

Rocky Mount's baseball team opened their new field this afternoon and the Gryphons were a charitable bunch making seven errors and allowed ten unearned runs as as they fall 10-3 to Southern Wayne. The Saints got 8 hits and SW pitching held the Gryphons to only three hits as Jarrell Hunter had two hits and two rbi and Spencer Ramsey found the  Gryphons third Hit.

Ramsey started and pitch the first three innings but the defense was little help. An array of arms threw the 4th, 5th sixth and seventh innings as two Gryphon pitcher Jeremy Johnson and Will Edwards are nursing injuries.  Edwards will be out the first month while Johnson will pitch soon in fact he played center field today.  Not much time to be depressed at the Gryphons travel to Tarboro Friday at 5pm

Three teams from Rocky Mount remain alive for their respective State Championships.  Rocky Mount Prep will play the team that knocked them out of the Regional last year in Plymouth.  That game will be played in Plymouth.  Last year's Regional score was 86-78 but the Jags have maybe their best player playing this year whereas last year he was on the sidelines injured in DeShaun Freeman

Freeman provides inside presence that the Prep did not have last year. 6'8" his bottling up of the middle allows everyone else to take off for the basket in Prep's high powered run and Gun offense.  This game is one of the best matchups in all sectional finals.  It is not the only really good match up state wide however.

If Pam Gainey was to tell you the truth she has a hollow hole in the pit of her stomach after last year's team failed to win the Regional.  Watching the results of the State Championship game she knows the Lady Gryphons could have won a title too but it didn't happen.  Is there redemption available for the Ladies as they travel to West Craven 24-5.  It is as much as any thing about how you are playing today not yesterday and the Lady Gryphons have a shot because they have it together right now.

The Rocky Mount boys could at any time lay and egg and be embarrassed but the door gets wider and wider for Rocky Mount to return to the Regional finals after the #2 seed Triton lost last night.  If the Gryphons are focused there will be no problem against C B Aycock but they had better all have one thing in mind.  Mike Gainey did a great job against South Brunswick keeping them focused.  Less than 200 were in the gym so you can hear every comment and as the game ended a fan yelled good practice.  Their opponent is better this round but if the #2 team in the State shows up it's on to the Regional.

After the boys game last night just about every Gryphon fan at the boys game loaded up and went to Northern.  You could feel the side of the court rise where the Rocky Mount fans were seated when the boys still in uniform warmups enter the building in the  tight contest.  At that point Northern had taken control of the game to some extent even though it was tied at 23-23 just before the half.  The energy just those guys showing up added to the Lady Gryphons play and maybe in a small way took something out of Northern. It may have been the turning point in the game.