ROCKINGHAM — Things were looking dire in the dugout for Perdue, trailing 10-1 going into the bottom of the third inning.
Coach Mike Hudson tried his best to make sure his team didn’t panic, even though he was doing just that on the inside.
Hudson knew his team was capable of coming back, he just hoped they had enough innings to do it.
They did.
Cameron Goodwin’s infield hit with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, lifting Perdue to a 12-11 victory over American Legion Post 147 in the Dixie Boys championship game Wednesday night at Civitan Park.
“It’s a good group of ball players,” Hudson said. “I know they can hit.”
The winning rally started with two outs and Perdue trailing 11-9. Clint Snipes was hit by a pitch to get things started. He stole second and raced around to score on an infield single by Chris Austin and a throwing error. Austin moved to second on the play and stole third. Gordon Phil walked and Garrett Williams followed with an RBI-single to score Austin and move Phil to third.
That set up Goodwin for the game-winning hit. Goodwin hit Chandler Napier’s delivery off the end of the bat, but it was enough as Phil dented the plate with the decisive run.
“Both teams fought hard in the 100-degree heat,” Post 147 coach Aaron Sanders said.
Post 147 scored two runs in the first on a throwing error and then sent 13 batters to the plate in the second inning to build a 9-1 lead. It added a single run in the third to build a nine-run advantage.
Sanders thought his team may have relaxed too much, allowing Perdue to claw its way back into the game.
“Offensively, they backed off,” he said. “I understand that with the comfortable lead, it’s easy to relax. But they fought when they had to.”
Evan Hudson earned the victory in relief, allowing one run in three innings. He worked his way out of a jam in the top of the sixth when he walked the first two batters, but struck out Bryson Sanders and Adam Webb was caught stealing third. He walked Nathan Quick but struck out Napier to escape without allowing a run.
Jelgo wins AAA title
Jelgo edged Mabry’s 6-5 to capture the AAA title Wednesday night.
Game time set for coach-pitch
ROCKINGHAM — The Rockingham coach-pitch all-star team will open the District One tournament Friday evening.
Rockingham will face South Stanly at 6 p.m. in Norwood. The winner will not return to action until Sunday afternoon, but the loser will be back on the diamond Saturday afternoon.
The championship game is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. However, if needed, another contest is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
There are eight teams in the tournament, including two from both North Stanly and West Stanly.
Reach managing editor Shawn Stinson at 910-817-2671 and follow him on Twitter @scgolfer.