Rosewood beats Cherryville to force Game 3 in 2A championship series

BURLINGTON, N.C. — Even falling in an early deficit in the second game of the N.C High School Athletic Association 2A baseball state championship series, Rosewood battled with its back against the wall Thursday.

A 6-5 win for the Eagles over Cherryville sets the stage for a winner-take-all third game at 5 p.m. at the Burlington Athletic Park on Thursday.

Cherryville fed off the momentum of a no-hitter in game one to take a 5-0 lead after 2 ½ innings. That’s when the Eagles started to claw back.

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The five-run deficit didn’t turn back the Eagles’ bats that were silenced in game one. Kaeden Hinson drove in a pair of runs for Rosewood in the bottom of the second. Jacob Bond drove home a third run in the following inning to stay within striking distance.

Rosewood’s (24-6) comeback continued in the fifth inning. After loading the bases with no outs, the Eagles tied the game after an RBI single from Cam Rye and an RBI groundout from Ed Gardner. A wild pitch scored a run from third to give the Eagles a 6-5 lead heading to the sixth.

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The Eagles worked out of two bases-loaded jams in the fourth and sixth innings without allowing a run.

A two-out rally sparked life for the Ironmen (25-5). After Brock Bumgardner was intentionally walked with the bases clear and two outs, one of his four intentional passes in the contest, Cherryville plated three runs off two hits and a pair of errors by Rosewood. Parker Anderson and Aaron Heavner had back-to-back RBI base knocks in the rally.

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The barrage of runs from the Ironmen continued in the second frame after Davin Digh and Anderson hit liners to the outfield grass to bring runs home.

A win in game three for Cherryville would be the ninth state championship. Rosewood could bring home the program’s first.

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