Great Effort Comes Up Short

Tonight the Rocky Mount Gryphons facing the top team in the Big East gave their best effort of the season but when the Gryphons failed to score the winning run in the bottom of the seventh the Fike Golden Demons took advantage and win in eight innings 3-2.

Gryphon Starter Cody Smith gave the Gryphons all he had going six inning struck out 10 allowed only four hits while walking six batters.  The lone run charge to Smith scored in the third after he had walked Ryan Page and he came home to score to give Fike a 1-0 lead.  The Gryphons lead 2-1 when Smith sat out the seventh inning.

The Gryphons tied the game in the bottom of the third after Logon Smith reached on an error and scored on a Forest Bell Single. The Gryphons took the lead in the fifth when Logan Smith single was sacrificed to second by Bikembe Kearney and scored on a single by Ben Yates got Smith to third and the left fielder bobbled the ball allowing Smith to score.

The Gryphons had chances in the fifth to add to the lead with runners on every base and a line drive was snatched out of the air and the runner on second was called out at second. The sixth the Gryphons had first and third with one out and failed to score. The Gryphons loaded the bases in the seventh and failed to score.

Fike down 2-1 batting in the top of seventh got a lead off single by Ryan Page to greet reliever Blake Helms and the very next batter Charlie Vaughn delivered a triple down the right field to tie the game.  Fike failed to score another run on a base running error at third when Griffin Parker hit a ball toward second with the infield in.  The runner held up on first contact and after Josh Carter made a great stop threw the runner out at home who broke home late.

Fike scored in the top of the eighth on one hit and two walks to load the bases and scored on a single by Ryan Page. Even in the eighth the Gryphons had a chance to tie or win it with runners on second and third but failed to score with only one out.

Fike takes the lead in the Big East after Nash Central's Tyler King pitched a two hit  3-1 victory over Northern Nash.

Heard some great news tonight at the ball park.  The Washington National have promoted The Gryphon's Brian Goodwin to the Triple A Syracuse Chiefs which will mean Brian will be coming to Durham this season as long as he is not promoted to Washington by then.