Ragsdale baseball rallies past rival Southwest

HIGH POINT – Ragsdale came through in the clutch for a big win.The Tigers scored the tying run with two outs in the seventh, plated the go-ahead runs on a double in the ninth, and rallied past archrival Southwest Guilford 3-1 in Metro 4A Conference baseball Tuesday at Southwest."We played a really, really good opponent at their place, got down and hung in there," said Ragsdale coach Donnie Maness, who pulled a game ahead of Southwest coach Reid Holmes for the county's most wins all time.

"I probably couldn't be much prouder."Robinson got a big hit to tie it and Bullard got the big hit to win it. Those guys have been with me for four years.



So, you kind of just go up there and say, 'Hey, it's what you're supposed to do, fellas,'" he said with a laugh. "They did it and they did it in a very tough place to play. I'm very proud of all our boys.

"The Tigers (10-6 overall, 6-5 conference) were down to their final out in the seventh. Ryan Hendricks had reached on an infield error to start the inning, and the runner advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. A strikeout narrowed their chances even further.

But Owen Robinson, a High Point University recruit, singled sharply to right-center to score the run. And Ragsdale put runners in scoring position in each of the two extra innings. With two on and one out in the ninth, Dillon Bullard, a Mount Olive recruit, doubled past the outfielder into left-center, scoring two.

"I just really wanted to do what was best for the team," Bullard said. "Whether it was getting them over or getting that kind of hit. I didn't really have the best night going into it.

Just kind of had a backside approach. He made a mistake right down the middle, and I just had to do what I had to do."It's full of excitement – words can't really describe it in that moment.

You're so pumped up for the team. You're happy that you came through in that kind of situation. It's not very fun if you get out in that situation.

So, it's always nice to come through in that kind of spot. It brings a bunch of joy to the team."Braden Bradford added two hits, including a double, for the Tigers, who totaled four hits for the game – including three over the final three innings.

They couldn't get much going against Cowboys starter Graham Sutherland early, but they got runners on and tallied big hits when they needed to.Carter Dulin got the pitching win, providing three solid innings in relief of starter Bradford. Dulin struck out five in six innings, and Dulin tacked on three in facing just two more than the minimum.

He worked free of a bases-loaded, two-out situation in the seventh and pitched two 1-2-3 innings in the eighth and ninth.Ragsdale won for the second straight game in extras – also beating Northwest Guilford in eight innings Friday. Southwest was also in extras for the second straight game after beating Grimsley in eight innings Friday.

"Our conference is really good," Maness said. "So, sometimes you can play pretty good and still get beat. It's hard to know if you're playing well or not.

But when you start winning games, that's the results you're looking for. I'm just really proud of how we're bouncing back after a little bit of a tough start for us."Sutherland struck out four in 6 1/3 innings on the mound.

He left with the runner on second in the seventh. He also doubled and drove in Southwest's lone run of the game, flaring a two-out hit into shallow left field to score Kaden Morgan after he walked and stole second during the fourth inning.Brendan Snider was pretty good in relief in escaping scoring chances in the seventh and eighth.

But a hit batter and a walk to start the ninth proved problematic. Two batters later, Bullard's hit tipped the balance. The Cowboys (13-4, 10-1), who had six hits, couldn't muster a rally of their own.

"We knew it'd be really tough – they're better than their record," Holmes said. "We talked about that at practice. And we let them hang around and hang around a little bit.

Realistically, it was a good ballgame. They got some opportunistic hits and we didn't. Credit to them – they're a good ballclub.

"The teams will play again at Ragsdale on Thursday at 7 p.m. – moved up a day due to the weather forecast for Friday.

"I don't think we treat that any different," Holmes said. "We treated this as an important game and Thursday will be an important game as well. We've put ourselves in a good spot.

But even though we've put ourselves in a good spot, we haven't accomplished anything yet. All of these games are important."RAGSDALE 3, SOUTHWEST GUILFORD 1RHS 000 000 102 – 3 4 0SWG 000 100 000 – 1 6 1WP – Dulin (2IP, 3K, 2BB, 0H, 0R); LP – Snider (2.

3IP, 4K, 4BB, 2H, 2R)LEADING HITTERS – RHS: Bradford (2-4, 2B, R), Robinson (1-5, RBI, R), Bullard (1-3, 2B, 2RBI); SWG: Sutherland (1-4, 2B, RBI), Morgan (0-3, BB, R).