ASHEBORO The joy of victory and the agony of defeat is sometimes separated by only inches. For the Asheboro High School varsity baseball team, the difference between advancing to the state 3-A playoffs and having their season come to an end was just a few inches Thursday night. <\/p>\n
Southern Guilfords Taylor Sugg blooped a two-out double just off the outstretched glove of AHS second baseman Chase Kucinski and that was the difference as the Storm captured the Mid-Piedmont Conference Tournament championship with a 3-1 victory over the Blue Comets at McCrary Park. <\/p>\n
Seventh-seeded Asheboro, which defeated Southwestern Randolph and Central Davison to earn a berth in the championship game, needed to win the tournament in order to qualify for the state tournament. Instead, the Blue Comets season comes to an end at 9-14. <\/p>\n
Its tough to know that right now we are playing the best weve played all year, said a disappointed but proud AHS coach Tim Murray. We just dug a hole early on we couldnt get out of. These guys believed they could win this. <\/p>\n
They almost did. However, SG hurler Ryan Hedrick, who fanned 15 Blue Comets during a regular-season meeting, pitched a two-hitter. He walked one, hit one batter and fanned eight. <\/p>\n
He struck out 15 of our guys with a really good fastball last time, and although he didnt have that same fastball, he had all his other pitches and kept us off balance, Murray said. You have to tip your hat to him. But we were in the game against a very good pitcher and a very good team. We kept it close. <\/p>\n
AHS starter Brady Wright, who missed the first two games of the tournament because of sickness, pitched very well for the Blue Comets. He gave up the two runs in 4 1\/3 innings of work. Kucinski and Nick Hannon finished up. <\/p>\n
Our pitchers did what they were supposed to do and kept us close, Murray said. <\/p>\n
With one out in the bottom of the second, Noah Carter was hit by a pitch and with two outs, singles by Jonathan Hendricks and Nick Warden loaded the bases. Sugg then lifted a fly to short right field that Kucinski and Adam Gross converged on. After a very long run, Kucinski had the ball glance off his glove and the Storm had a 2-0 lead. <\/p>\n
Our right fielder said he didnt know if he could get there, Murray said. It just fell in the right spot. I never knew it would be the difference-maker. It just fell in the right spot for them. <\/p>\n
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Blue Comets fall just short for MPC Tournament title<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ASHEBORO The joy of victory and the agony of defeat is sometimes separated by only inches. For the Asheboro High School varsity baseball team, the difference between advancing to the state 3-A playoffs and having their season come to an end was just a few inches Thursday night Continue reading