It took three days, two venues, and 10 innings, but Perquimans can finally say it took Game 1 of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A baseball championship series.
The Pirates defeated East Surry on Sunday afternoon by a 5-4 score in a 10-inning game that was completed at South View High School but began on Saturday at nearby J.P. Riddle Stadium in Fayetteville. Game 2 will begin shortly.
Jackson Russell had the walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 10th for the Pirates.
The series was slated to begin Friday at the now-waterlogged J.P. Riddle, but no games were played due to rain.
Saturday’s start
East Surry (17-2) struck first with two runs in the top of the second on an RBI single from Evan McCreary that brought home Folger Boaz and a fielder’s choice brought in Trey Armstrong.
Perquimans (17-2) got its first run in the bottom of the third on an RBI single to left by Jett Winslow that scored Colby Brown to make it 2-1.
With runners on the corners and two outs, a rain delay stopped play one batter later.
Sunday’s finish
East Surry used Benji Gosnell on the mound Saturday and had super sophomore Folger Boaz, a UNC recruit, take the ball on Sunday.
But Boaz didn’t last long.
He gave up a two-RBI double to Perquimans No. 3 hitter Tanner Thach, which gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead.
Boaz struck out the next batter on three pitches and was replaced by Luke Brown in the bottom of the fourth.
It was the beginning of a back-and-forth affair.
East Surry took back the lead, 4-3, on a two-out, 2-RBI double by Luke Bowman in the top of the fifth. It could’ve been worse for Perquimans as the Cardinals loaded the bases but couldn’t squeeze out more runs.
Perquimans opened up the bottom of the sixth with a walk and two hit-by-pitches to set up a dropped fly ball in left field that scored the tying run to make it 4-4.
The score stayed that way until Russell’s single off Gosnell, who re-entered the game after Brown completed 5.2 innings.
