Baseball loses mojo; drops two to Glenn

Published 1:41 pm Tuesday, April 30, 2024

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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

Davie’s varsity baseball team traveled up the mountain to Boone, shut out a quality opponent in Watauga and headed home with a five-game winning streak.

The fun ceased right there.

The War Eagles suffered through two losses to Glenn. When it comes to the top five spots in the Central Piedmont Conference, it’s a riot. Davie swept two from East Forsyth; East swept Glenn; and Glenn swept Davie in the regular season for the second straight year.

Davie 13, Reynolds 1

Davie poured across nine runs in the top of the fifth and put Reynolds to bed early in Winston-Salem on April 16.

Davie 5, Reynolds 3

The score is deceptive. Davie had a 5-0 lead going into the top of the seventh, when the Demons did some cosmetic work before falling to Davie for the 14th time in 16 meetings.

Davie 3, Watauga 0

Pitcher Braeden Rodgers found his 2023 self and Davie picked up a nice nonconference win on April 20. The Pioneers would win the next three games to push their record to 14-5. Davie’s fifth straight win lifted it to 12-7.

In six strong innings, Rodgers struck out 10 in a four-hitter. Connor Berg closed the door in the seventh.

“We got an excellent outing from Braeden,” coach Joey Anderson said. “He probably pitched the best game he’s pitched this year.”

Rodgers, who posted six wins and a 2.41 ERA last year as a junior, got all the support he needed in the first. Coy James singled, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on an error. Later in the inning, a hit by Corbin Angus made it 2-0.

Three of Davie’s seven hits came from James (3-4). Hunter Potts went 1-2 with two walks. Angus went 2-3 with two RBIs. Kason Stewart went 1-3 and reached twice.

“(James and Potts) are swinging very hot bats,” Anderson said. “We did everything right defensively. It was a very good team win. We needed to beat one of those higher-echelon teams.”

Glenn 7, Davie 0

Davie lost its mojo in Kernersville on April 23.

It was shut down by senior Carmine Lancaster (five innings) and junior Logan Stump (two innings). It didn’t even matter that Berg (five innings, four hits) did not allow an earned run and lowered his ERA to 1.57. Davie made six errors and allowed seven of Berg’s runners to score. It didn’t matter that Tucker Hobbs enjoyed his sixth straight scoreless appearance out of the bullpen. It didn’t matter that Glenn was held to four hits.

It was just a stinker of a night for Davie. Coston Colamarino had half the Davie hits, going 2 for 3. Drew Krause and Cooper Bliss both went 1-3.

Glenn, which beat Davie 12-2 and 5-4 last year, climbed into a fourth-place tie with the War Eagles.

Glenn 4, Davie 3

Davie’s big rally ran out of steam on Senior Night on April 25. The Bobcats rolled up a 4-0 lead, rode the pitching of senior Kale Woolard (five innings) and Stump (two innings) and beat Davie for the fourth straight time.

Davie made things interesting by rallying in the fifth. Potts’ single cut Glenn’s lead to 4-1. James and Potts pulled off a double steal, and James scored on Stewart’s sac fly. When Potts scored on an error, it was 4-3.

Davie went down 1-2-3 in the sixth, but James gave it a chance in the seventh by reaching on an error and stealing second with one out. The next two batters, though, were retired as Davie stumbled to 12-9. Glenn’s seven straight win lifted it to 14-8.

The Bobcats more than doubled Davie in hits (13-6). Potts went 2-4, while Stewart, Craig McBride, Bliss and Colamarino all went 1-3.

Notes: In the 4-3 game, Cole Whitaker was effective in 1.1 innings of relief, striking out two. … James was hitting over .500 before Glenn week. He went hitless in those two, but is still hitting .460. … Potts (.403) has hit safely in six of seven. … The War Eagles’ fifth-place finish in the CPC is their lowest in six seasons (fifth in 2017). The final standings: Reagan 13-1, West Forsyth 11-3, East Forsyth/Glenn 9-5, Davie 8-6, Mt. Tabor 4-10, Reynolds 2-12, Parkland 0-14. … Eight guys were honored on Senior Night: McBride, Whitaker, Will Wands, Berg, Bliss, Rodgers, MJ Jacobs and Dane Porter.