Rams Send Jaguars Home and Advance to The Fourth Round
The stage was set for the third round of the 2A NCHSAA Playoffs: Rams versus Jaguars. Win or go home.
The Jaguars had a chance to turn the tide in the Greene Central (22-3) and Farmville Central (10-12) rivalry. Farmville had the opportunity to play spoiler to the red-hot Rams' season, as GC was riding a 19-game win streak coming into the game. The Jaguars talked the "talk" before the game, but unfortunately, didn't walk the "walk."
"They kind of fueled it before the game," Rams' Braden Burress said after the 4-0 win over the Jags. "They said they were going to come here and have us sit home this Friday. I knew that wasn't going to be the case. I let them fuel the fire, and I just showed them what I had."
For the first time in 20 years, the Rams are headed to the fourth round. The five-time state champions have a rich history of postseason baseball, but the last 15-20 years have not been as fruitful.
"I am extremely proud," coach Ben Brann said. "We have put a lot of work and a lot of time into it. It feels good to see the results from it; we have worked hard for this."
The Rams were able to get the bats going but couldn't capitalize on some of their baserunners. However, Burress, who got the start on the mound, completely shut down the Jaguars. Burress pitched seven innings, giving up just one hit and zero runs.
This season, Burress has dominated the Jaguars, pitching in two games for a total of 12 innings, yielding only two hits, zero runs, and striking out 12 Jaguars. The win was Burress's 11th of the season..
"Will (Radford) continues to call great games from behind the plate. He steals a lot of strikes for me," Burress humbly gives credit to his catcher. "The guys in the field just made a lot of plays for me. They make it really easy for me out there."
Rams were lead by seniors Wilk Thomas and Leland Barrow both went 2-4 on the night and brought the energy all game.
"I am proud; this hasn't been done in a while," Barrow said. "We usually have a tough time with them, but tonight we cruised right through them."
Greene Central will take their 20-game win streak into the fourth round on Friday night against the #3 seed South Granville. South Granville defeated South Lenoir to advance and will play the Rams in Snow Hill.
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