LAUREL HILL, N.C. — The hopeful Cinderella run by the No. 5 Ellerbe Middle School baseball team came to an end Monday in the Southeastern Middle School Athletic Conference playoffs.
The Wildcats and head coach Allen Adeimy traveled to No. 1 seed Carver Middle School, and saw the Eagles advance to the SEMSAC title game. Carver, which remained undefeated on the season, beat Ellerbe by a final score of 12-2.
“We came out flat and you can’t do that against a good team like Carver,” Adeimy said. “You have to be on your game from the first pitch. I’m still proud of the guys.
“It’s another final four appearance for our program, and that’s something to be proud of and build upon,” he added.
Eighth grader Bryce Goodwin started for the Wildcats on the hill, and suffered just his second loss of the spring. He lasted 1.2 innings, giving up an uncharacteristic six runs on four hits.
Adeimy added that the Wildcats “didn’t field well behind him,” and that Goodwin “threw well enough to get out of the innings but we didn’t do him any favors early.”
Two big innings for Carver to start the game left the Wildcats in an early deficit, but Adeimy noted that his players settled in and made it competitive the rest of the way.
Following Goodwin’s exit on the mound, Adeimy elected to go with a platoon of pitchers to close out the season. Eighth grader Thomas Lampley made his first career appearance on the mound, and struck out two of the three batters he faced.
On offense, the Wildcats used a Brent Hayes RBI single to score a run, coupled with an RBI double by sixth grader Brooks Calhoun. Sixth grader Mason Murray also collected a hit in the final game of his first season.
The Wildcats finished 6-5 on the season and made it back to the SEMSAC semifinal round for the first time since 2015. During that run, Ellerbe had defeated Carver 7-6 on the road in the opening round.
“A big thanks to Bryce, Brent and Thomas, all of whom were multi-year players for us,” Adeimy said. “They will be missed and had a big-time season for us.
“We have four or five returners who got significant playing time this year,” he closed. “They should help us compete again next season.”
No. 1 Carver will host No. 2 Rockingham Middle School Wednesday at 4 p.m. for the SEMSAC championship.
