Baseball: Rosewood Clinches Fourth Straight Carolina 1A Conference Title (PHOTO GALLERY)

Baseball: Rosewood Clinches Fourth Straight Carolina 1A Conference Title (PHOTO GALLERY)

Rosewood won its fourth straight Carolina 1A Conference title on Wednesday evening.

The Eagles scored four runs in the first inning and went on to defeat their archrival Princeton 10-0 in five innings.

Rosewood finishes the regular season with an 11-2 overall record, while Princeton ends the season with an 8-5 overall record. With the win, the Eagles earn an automatic bid to the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A playoffs.

Seeding, game times, and location for the playoffs are yet to be determined.

“It’s just a culmination of hard work, and the kids doing what I’ve asked them to do,” Rosewood head coach Jason King said. “It’s something that we set a goal for at the beginning of the year, but you never know how things are going to shake out. The conference has been really good this year, and we feel fortunate to be here.”

The Eagles jumped on top in the first inning.

Conner Casey, Davis Albert, and Will Harris all hit singles to load the bases. Logan Merritt then drilled a single that enabled Casey and Albert to cross home plate.

Later in the inning, the Eagles scored two more runs that made the score 4-0.

“I saw a lot of grit, and I saw a lot of aggressiveness at the plate,” King said. “I saw a determination to make plays in the field, and I told them before, ‘we need to have all of those things to have a chance to win the ballgame,’ and those guys stepped up to the plate and did it.”

The Eagles were held scoreless in the second and third innings, but they added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth.

Albert nailed an RBI double, and Will Harris followed with an RBI single that upped the Eagles’ lead to 6-0.

Benjamin Peacock’s sacrifice fly made it an 8-0 ballgame.

Later in the bottom of the fifth, Merritt drew a bases-loaded walk, while Casey scored off a wild pitch to end the game.

Harris got the start on the mound, and Bulldogs had no answer for him. Harris pitched all five innings and gave up just one hit.

Heading into the playoffs, King wants the Eagles to keep taking steps forward and improve every game.

“There’s no room for error in the playoffs, and we know that,” King said. “It’s win or go home, so we to keep putting together games like this.”

The game was the final regular-season home game for Harris, Merritt, Casey, Gabe Vernon, and Bryce Wirhouski. Over the past four seasons, the Eagles have a 52-16 overall record and a 34-1 record in Carolina Conference play.

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