East Rutherford bests Whiteville, forces G3 in 3A baseball

HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. — East Rutherford held off a furious rally from Whiteville to force a game three in the best-of-three series in the 3A baseball championship, with a 5-4 win in 10 innings.

The Cavaliers and Wolfpack will play a winner take all game three in Holly Springs.

East Rutherford led 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, only to allow the Wolfpack tie the game at four to force extra innings.

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In the top of the 10th, East Rutherford’s Malachi Dato drove in a run to take a one-run lead, all that was needed after almost three hours of baseball.

Whiteville never led in game two after picking up a 4-1 win in game one Friday night.

Game one survived a long lightning delay, while game two was the product of tough defense and timely hitting. Eli Webb was the winning pitcher, with six strikeouts in late relief duty.

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He took over for Caleb Bennett, who went seven innings, keeping Whiteville (21-8) at bay for most of the afternoon. With their backs against the wall and two outs on the board Jake Odham rocked a 2RBI double to cut into the lead. Wyatt Torelli followed Odham with an RBI single, and suddenly the fans were on their feet and the Cavaliers made a change on the mound. East Rutherford brought in Webb to finish off the Wolfpack.

A passed ball advanced the tying run to third, with Lathan McClean at the plate. At one point what seemed impossible, became possible when McClean got a clean hit and East Rutherford bobbled the ball at shortstop to allow a run in, tying the game at four.

The eighth and ninth innings were scoreless before Dato dinged one at the three spot for the game-winning run.

Game three will start at 6:30 p.m.

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Box Score

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