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Northwest rallies to make final
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Published: April 16, 2009
It might be a different and less experienced Northwest Cabarrus team.
But these Trojans are still tough to beat in the Intimidators Classic.
They showed that again Thursday night, rallying for another victory in their final at-bat, this time a 5-3 semifinal win over Piedmont.
Trailing 2-0 after five innings, Northwest got a run in the sixth and four more in the seventh, then held on in the bottom of the inning to return to the championship game.
The defending champion Trojans will try for their fourth outright title when they face county rival Hickory Ridge at 7 p.m. tonight at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium.
"It's big for our team," Northwest head coach Joe Hubbard said.
"We're excited when we win. We want to win ballgames and it was a great opportunity for us to defend our championship here."
Northwest, which scored five runs in the seventh inning to beat A.L. Brown on Monday, did it again to Piedmont, taking advantage of a couple of breaks with key hits.
Down by a run, Cullen Perry was hit by a pitch to start the seventh. Jordan Phillips then laid down a good bunt that forced a hurried throw by Piedmont starter Griffin Park and Park overthrew first base, putting runners on second and third.
"We're just trying to move the runner up and put us in a position where a single ties the game," Hubbard said. "He bunted it in a good place and Jordan runs well enough that it puts on a little pressure."
Travis Watkins followed by ripping an RBI double to left-center to tie the game and a sacrifice fly by Corey Seager put the Trojans ahead 3-2.
Park then walked Taylor West on four pitches, ending his night.
Jon Wallace greeted Piedmont reliever Kendall Hooks with an RBI single to make it 4-2, Matt Greene singled and Michael Hagwood's sacrifice fly gave Northwest a three-run lead.
"I was proud of them the way they hung in there and then when we got the opportunity we got a couple big hits," Hubbard said.
The insurance came in handy in the bottom of the inning.
After a leadoff walk by reliever Austin Noyes, the Trojans allowed a easy popup to drop on top of the mound, giving Piedmont two on with nobody out.
"We want somebody to take charge, obviously, in that situation and it kind of put us in a bad situation," Hubbard said. "But it turned out all right."
Kevin Hamilton came on in relief and Hooks singled to right to make it 5-3.
But Hamilton got a strikeout and then a grounder to second that Northwest turned into a game-ending 5-4-3 double play that elicited a playoff-like response from the Trojans' dugout.
"Kevin keeps the ball down and when he's effective he's going to get groundballs," Hubbard said. "I love to end it on a double play. Groundball, boom-boom, ballgame. That was fantastic."
Limited to just one hit in the first five innings by Park, Northwest still had a chance thanks to strong pitching of its own by Rob Bain.
He allowed just four hits in five innings. He surrendered single runs in the second and fourth, but battled around six walks to keep the Trojans close.
"The Park kid was just dealing all night long," Hubbard said. "We didn't have a whole lot of opportunities. But pitching-wise Rob did a good job and we played good defense behind him, and that gave us an opportunity to come from behind and win the game."
Northwest started its comeback in the sixth when Seager led off with a single, went to second on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on Hagwood's two-out single just over the leaping second baseman.
"It was the first time we had a runner on with less than two outs so that helped," Hubbard said.
Northwest finished the game with seven hits, with Watkins leading the way with two.
The Trojans and Hickory Ridge played early in the season, with the Ragin' Bulls notching a dominating win.
But that wasn't at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium, where N
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