Baseball’s region hopes dashed by Chatham in final

By Laura Clark

Published: May 28, 2008

The Cavaliers shut out Nelson while scoring six runs to win the Dogwood District tournament championship on May 23.

Matt Bray pitched a complete game for Chatham, striking out nine batters and walking one. Bray’s double in the first inning scored two, while Nelson’s defense had a shaky start.

“We had a few errors at the beginning that got us down,” first baseman Jared Truslow said. “If we’d of gotten the bats going in the beginning, our head would have stayed up.”

Though confident from hitting off Appomattox ace Tim Dudley two days before, Nelson couldn’t adjust to Bray’s slower curveballs.

“Their game plan was obviously to throw a lot of breaking balls and spin us all night,” Gov coach Scott McGarry said.

Chris Garwood started on the mound for Nelson. He had two strikeouts and one walk. Cavalier catcher Gavin Hylton hit a two-run home run in the third. Nelson intentionally walked him in his next two at-bats. Chris Jones relieved Garwood in the fourth, between Chatham’s fifth and sixth runs. The defense tightened up, but it did little good without an offense.

Jones, along with Truslow and M.J. Wells, were the only Govs to get a base hit without an error.

“If we start hitting the ball in the first couple innings, we’ll win the game nine times out of 10,” Jones said.

The Govs season ended as district runners-up. They finished with a 9-13 record. McGarry said the Dogwood teams are competitive and should do well in the region.

“The biggest disappointment with eight seniors is that I felt if we get past tonight, next week would be a great opportunity,” McGarry said. “We were fine with our pitchers available tonight if we produced runs. Four is manageable. When you get to six – that’s a little tougher mentality.”

Nelson 9, Appomattox 2

Senior Josh Ferguson pitched a no-hitter with three errors to lead the Govs past Appomattox in the Dogwood District semifinal game on May 21. Nelson won 9-2.

“I pitched as good as I could, tried to stay ahead,” Ferguson said. “I know our defense is good, and they make plays most of the teams in the district can’t make.”

Ferguson struck out four and walked five. The Raiders led 2-1 after the second inning when Raider Zach Jobe scored two on a single that bounced to the outfield. Jared Truslow hit a homerun in the top of the second off starting pitcher and Appomattox ace Tim Dudley.

Nelson went three up, three down defensively for the final five innings.

Andy Gordon and Chris Jones hit back-to-back home runs in the third to put Nelson up 4-2. Dudley was relieved in the fourth by Gary Crawford. Chris Garwood put down a two-foot bunt to load the bases. Then Gordon hit a 2 RBI double followed by Jones, who scored himself and Gordon with a long hit.

“I’m sure (Dudley) can be stronger than that,” Gov coach Scott McGarry said, “but our guys stepped up when they heard he was starting today. They wanted that challenge. He’s one of the best pitchers we’ll see, and I don’t care if that was his best stuff or not, we beat him.”

“I was a little shaken up to be honest with you,” Garwood said of facing Dudley. “But I stayed in there. He was throwing strikes, so it’s not like he was going to hit you.”

Garwood was 2-for-3 with a double. M.J. Wells and Jordan Wooten each hit doubles. Gordon and Jones were each 2-for-4. Despite the loss, the Raiders were guaranteed a regional birth with their regular season district title.

“We played like a team that didn’t have anything to play for,” Raider coach Joe Caruso said. “Nelson played a great game. They out-played us every which way you can.”