Rosewood baseball rallies to take 2A championship from Cherryville

BURLINGTON, N.C. — Rosewood, all in the matter of a day and some change, went from being no-hit to open the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A baseball state championship series in Burlington, to by the end of game three Thursday leaving no doubt on the field.

“Coach told us we had to flush it after the no-hit,” Rosewood senior Jacob Bond said. “Coach said we were going to come out here and fight until the very last out, and that’s what we did.”

To claim the school’s first state championship in baseball, a dramatic comeback was needed for Rosewood to snag the winner-take-all third game of the series 3-2 against Cherryville.

“I never really had a doubt. I knew our guys would dig back in at some point,” Rosewood coach Jason King said. “Obviously, you don’t plan on going down 5-0. I’m just proud of how they fought, grinding out at-bats, putting the ball in play, continuing to put it in play, making plays on defense when we had to have them. That’s how to fight back into a game.”

Less than 12 hours earlier, any chance at a comeback seemed to be in question when the Eagles (25-6) went down five runs in the third inning to the Ironmen. From there, the Eagles found the cracks in the Ironmen’s armor and pounded out run-scoring hits to finish off the job the 2019 team was unable to complete in its state runner-up season.

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Bond had an RBI triple to ignite the offense in the closing game in the top of the first. He added a sacrifice fly in the top of the third inning. That score and a Jack Adams RBI single made it 3-0 Rosewood after three complete.

Bond, a senior catcher, was named the MVP of the state championship series. Among the MVP moments he had Thursday, the final one of him helping secure the last out is one that will live in lore in Goldsboro for many years.

Cherryville was threatening to force extra innings, or even walk-off the Eagles, in the bottom of the seventh inning. With the bases loaded and one out, a fly ball to right field initially looked like the Ironmen were going to tag up and take a run off the 3-1 Rosewood lead.

“I saw the guy break towards third, and the guy didn’t come home, so I knew I had to get to (the runner from second base). He fell down. I just had to make sure he got back to his bag at least,” Bond said. The throw was on line, and the runner on third base retreated once Bond caught the ball in the infield. The runner tagging up from second base was caught in his tracks, and the chase was on. Bond scampered through the infield grass, flipped the ball to second baseman Ed Gardner to get the tag for the third and final out on an unconventional double play.

“The thought process he had to try and run at him instead of making the long throw was heads up,” King said. “That’s a big play from him, and it comes from playing the game and knowing the game.”

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The final-inning scare from Cherryville was one of a handful of scares in the final innings that Rosewood navigated while keeping the lead in its possession.

Cherryville sophomore Canon Whitesides ushered in the Ironmen’s first run of the nightcap on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Ironmen (25-6) looked primed to chip away at the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Brock Bumgardner reached on a lead-off walk. He stood on second base with no outs and on third base with one out.

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Rosewood reliever Kaeden Hinson registered a strikeout before a walk loaded the bases. Hinson hustled to first on the final batter of the inning to get the putout after a diving stop from Connor Waters to keep the lead intact.

Gardner closed out the second game of the series earlier in the day with a save, and the senior trotted back to the mound and pitched five-plus innings, while holding Cherryville to one run on four hits, and striking out six.

“He’s not a high (velocity) guy, but he can throw three pitches for a strike and spins the ball well,” King said of Gardner. “We had tons of confidence in him coming in, and he did a great job. I knew he would. It’s good to have guys you have faith in go out there and do their job and fight for your team.”

Cherryville’s Parker Anderson was the only player in the game to register two hits.

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