Greene Central Falls to Ayden-Grifton in Another One-Run Heartbreaker

Mar 26

Mar 26 Greene Central Falls to Ayden-Grifton in Another One-Run Heartbreaker

Greene Central Falls to Ayden-Grifton in Another One-Run Heartbreaker
By Jayden Willis | Neuse News Sports

SNOW HILL — The Greene Central Rams hoped to gain momentum against the Ayden-Grifton Chargers after suffering back-to-back one-run losses with chances to win both games late. Unfortunately, that trend continued Friday night, as the Rams fell victim to their third straight one-run loss in all-too-familiar fashion.

Once again, the game came down to the final inning. Junior Will Radford continued to rake at the plate, ripping a triple to set up the Rams' offense with the tying run in scoring position. Junior Riley Radford followed but struck out for the second out of the inning. Sophomore Elijah Moore kept the rally alive with a walk, putting runners on the corners. That brought up freshman Logan Buress, who had a chance to give Greene Central its first lead of the game. But the freshman struck out to end the threat — and the game — sealing another heartbreaking loss for the Rams.

“He’s thrown the ball really well so far this year coming out of the bullpen,” Head Coach Ben Brann said of Creech, who came in to provide a much-needed lift on the mound.

The Rams found themselves in an early hole, trailing by three runs in the middle innings. Needing to stop the bleeding, Coach Brann turned to senior Easton Creech, who answered the call. Creech tossed three scoreless innings, allowing no runs and striking out one. He also made an impact at the plate, recording a base hit and driving in two runs on a hard-hit ground ball that was mishandled by the Chargers' defense.

Will Radford led the way offensively, finishing 2-for-4, continuing his strong run at the plate.

“We’re just missing that one big hit to break it open,” Brann said.

With the loss, Greene Central’s overall record falls to 4-5 and 2-3 in conference play. The Rams will look to get back in the win column tomorrow when they host the Southside Seahawks.

The Chargers, meanwhile, improve to 7-3 overall and 3-2 in conference, hoping to build momentum off back-to-back close wins, including a recent one-run victory over Martin County.