It was “just another manic Monday” in Robbins, especially when North Moore and Chatham Central reached the bottom of the seventh inning in an important Yadkin Valley Conference boys’ baseball clash.
The Bears’ baseball team was leading North Moore by a score of 11-3, and the proverbial “fat lady” was tuning up behind the Chatham Central bench.
At that point, however, the complexion of the game began to change. The Mustangs rallied for eight runs to tie the score at 11-all in the bottom of the seventh, and then went on to win it in the eighth, 12-11.
Clay Hutchens, a freshman, delivered the big blow during the rally when he nailed a three-run homer with two outs in the seventh, forcing the game into extra innings.
Spencer Collins scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth on Cale Cassidy’s sacrifice fly.
“That was one of the best games I’ve been a part of,” Mustang coach Bobby Collins said after the game. “The guys never got down on themselves, never gave up during the entire game. They (Chatham Central) were hitting everything we threw in there. Jacob (Monroe) did a great job in relief.”
The Bears had a total of 16 hits, altogether, including three doubles and one home run. Collins started on the mound for North Moore, and Jacob Monroe relieved him in the fourth inning with the score Chatham Central 6, North Moore 1.
Chatham Central got on the board in the top of the first inning, as Scott Kidd led off with a single to center field, and moved to second on Daniel Douglas’ sacrifice bunt. Evan Johnson then singled to left field, scoring Kidd. The Mustangs went down in order, and Chatham Central led at the end of the first inning, 1-0.
The Bears added another run in the top of the second inning, as Randy Nall singled, and moved to third on John Studer’s single to center field. Studer moved to second on the play, as the center fielder let the ball get by him.
Nall then scored on Kidd’s single to right field, but Studer was tagged out at home trying to score on the play.
North Moore picked up a run in the bottom of the second, as Collins led off with a home run over the left-field fence. The score after two complete innings was Chatham Central 2, North Moore 1.
Chatham Central rallied for four runs in the top of the third inning. Johnson doubled to center field, and Jeremy Diven was safe on an error, and advanced to second on the play. Seth Kivett singled to center field, scoring both Johnson and Diven. Ryan Lambert was safe on an error, and then Justin Fields singled to right field to score two more runs for the Bears. North Moore was unable to score in the third inning, leaving the Bears on top 6-1.
Monroe replaced Collins on the mound for North Moore at the start of the fourth inning. Chatham Central scored three more runs in the fourth, as Johnson walked, and Kivett hit a two-run homer over the right-field fence. A single by Lambert, a single by Nall and an error on a ground ball by Fields accounted for another Chatham Central run.
North Moore scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Cassidy singled to center field, and went to second on a wild pitch. Brady Thomas replaced Cassidy as a courtesy runner. T. J. Martin singled to left field, reaching second when Kirby Maness grounded out.
Houston Brady then singled to left field, scoring both Thomas and Martin. The score after four complete innings was Chatham Central 9, North Moore 3.
Neither team was able to score in the fifth or the sixth inning, and the Bears held on to a six-run lead, 9-3.
In the top of the seventh, Chatham added two more runs, as Kidd and Douglas hit back-to-back singles, and both runners scored on Diven’s single to left field. The Bears had an eight-run lead as the Mustangs came to bat in the bottom of the seventh, 11-3.
Zack Lange, pinch-hitting for Clay Hutchins, led off for the Mustangs, but grounded out to first. Matt Caviness was safe at first on an error. Collins followed with a single to center field, and both runners advanced on an error in the outfield.
Kevin Smith reached on an error with Caviness scoring on the play. Cassidy singled to right field, scoring Collins. Martin was safe on an error, scoring Smith, and the runners advanced to second and third on the play.
Kirby Maness flied out to right field, and Cassidy scored from third after the catch. Brady then singled to right field, scoring Martin.
Drew Monroe then singled to center field, and with runners on first and third, and two outs, Hutchins was reinserted into the line-up, and represented the tying run coming to the plate. Hutchins came through for the Mustangs with a three-run home run over the right field fence, and the game was tied at 11-all.
The next batter grounded out to short, and the game went into extra innings.
The Bears went down in order in the top of the eighth, as the leadoff batter flied out to right field, and Monroe struck out the next two batters to retire the side.
Jonathan Marsh replaced starter Britt Walden on the mound for Chatham Central in the eighth. Collins led off for the Mustangs in the bottom of the eighth with a single to right field. Smith bunted, and was safe at first on an error.
Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, and then Cassidy hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field, and Collins scored from third after the catch to give the Mustangs the win.
North Moore’s record improved to 7-9 for the season, and it is now 6-5 in the conference. The Bears’ record dropped to 10-7 (7-4 conference).
The Mustangs will play Thomasville at home tonight and South Stanly at home Thursday.
