RAMSEUR — After battling Deep River to a 4-4 stalemate through nine frames, a two-out error in the top of the tenth opened the door for the Triad Tribe to tally five unearned runs en route to handing the mistake-prone Muddogs a 9-4 extra-inning setback in Old North State League action Monday night at I. Fletcher Craven Stadium.
The triumph lifted Triad to 2-1 for the season, whereas Deep River fell to 1-3.
Warren Gay, the Muddogs’ third pitcher of the evening, was the victim of shoddy fielding and suffered the loss after being tagged for three hits and five unearned runs while striking out one over one and two-third innings on the mound.
Deep River starter Nathan Cockman went five innings, giving up three hits and three runs (one earned) in addition to issuing six free passes and fanning four.
Isaiah Ortega followed Cockman on the hill and yielded three hits and one earned run besides walking two (one intentional) and whiffing three over three innings, while Rafy Ortega came on in the tenth to record the final out.
The Tribe’s Andrew Tilley, who worked his way out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth, hurled one and two-third innings of hitless ball in relief to gain the win, issuing one intentional pass and striking out two.
Triad starter Sam Peddycord threw five innings, surrendering four hits along with four runs (one earned) in addition to walking three and fanning five before reliever Grant Eidschun tossed three and one-third scoreless innings, giving up three hits while whiffing four.
After Gay retired the first two batters he faced in the visitors’ tenth on groundouts, Luke Pegram scratched an infield hit prior to advancing to second on a wild pitch.
Lyle Pfingst then reached on an infield throwing error that allowed Pegram to race home with the go-ahead run before Hayden Setzer belted an opposite-field double to left that sent Pfingst to third.
After Latek McNeil was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Clayton Smith sprinted all the way to second on a throwing error that permitted both Pfingst and Setzer to come home while moving McNeil to third.
McNeil then dashed home on a wild pitch as Clayton Smith went to third and scored the game’s final run when Kirby Smith reached on an infield single.
“Our guys fought hard all night and stayed with it before we got some timely hits late to pull out the win,” remarked Tribe coach Ross Davis.
“We had great pitching all evening, with the bullpen doing an outstanding job in relief, and while we were a little shaky in the field early we managed to lock it in later when it counted.”
Muddogs’ coach Michael Milian stated his team missed a golden opportunity to collect a victory when Deep River loaded the bases with one away in the bottom of the ninth but couldn’t produce a run.
“Failing to score at that point seemed to change the momentum and then we literally threw the game away the next inning,” said Milian.
“Nathan Cockman’s pitching kept us in the game while Jordan Moss’s leadoff home run in the bottom of the fifth gave us the lead, but in the end we just shot ourselves in the foot and need to find a way to clean up on defense.”
Triad jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first as Pegram opened the contest by reaching on an infield miscue and advanced to third on Pfingst’s opposite-field base hit to right before the latter was thrown out attempting to steal second.
Following a walk to Setzer, McNeil punched an opposite-field single to right to score Pegram, and after Clayton Smith was plunked with a pitch to fill the sacks, Brannan Hogan coaxed a free pass to force in Setzer.
The Muddogs answered with a run in their half of the first as leadoff batter Clay Richardson scampered all the way to second on an infield throwing error and tallied two outs later when Moss blooped an opposite-field base hit to right.
The Tribe picked up a solo run in the visitors’ fourth as Casey Nichols reached on a one-out fielder’s choice and went to second when Pegram reached on a throwing error.
Nichols then moved to third on a wild pitch and came in to score on a groundout by Setzer.
Deep River rallied to tie the contest at 3-all in the home half of the fourth as Richardson drew a full-count free pass with one away and advanced to second when Parker Clayton reached on a throwing error.
After the duo pulled off a successful double steal, both came in to score when Easton Jones reached on an infield muff.
The Muddogs seized their only lead of the evening an inning later when Moss led off the bottom of the fifth by launching a 3-1 offering from Peddycord over the left field fence for his first round-tripper of the season.
But Triad would stage a comeback to pull even in the top of the eighth as Pegram drew a one-out walk, went to second on a fielder’s choice, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on McNeil’s two-out single to center.
Deep River proceeded to load the bases with one out in the home ninth on Clayton’s infield hit, Jones’ dropped fly ball to left and an intentional walk issued to Jordan Cassell.
But Tilley then fanned Moss and Zach Olinski to end the threat prior to the Tribe deciding the outcome with their five-run tenth-inning explosion.