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Dawgs sweep Camden in East finals

30 May 2007 — Back a bulldog in a corner and he fights even harder. Just ask Camden.

Princeton advanced to the State 1-A Baseball Finals with back-to-back come-from-behind wins over the Bruins by identical 5-2 counts last Thursday and Friday.

The finals will be played just up NC 39 at Five County Stadium, just across the Wake County line near Zebulon. The first game is Friday at 5 p.m., the second Saturday at 11 a.m., and a third game, if necessary, will be at 5 p.m. Saturday.

After relying heavily on Colin Parker and Ryan Daughtry in recent games, Princeton Coach Bruce Proctor called on right-hander Dustin Pate to pitch the opening game of the series. Pate had pitched a long relief stint the Friday before, and when given the ball last Thursday, he delivered again from the rubber. But not before some tense moments.

In the fourth Pate gave up the tying run, and then in the fifth he ran into big trouble. Camden loaded the bases with no outs. A sacrifice fly gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead, but Pate showed a bulldog’s heart, getting the next two batters out on a fly to short center and a strikeout.

Pate then struck the first blow to get it back, slapping a lead-off double to deep center. Jonathan Hartley punched the first pitch he saw to right field, scoring Drew Whaley who was running for Pate. Parker, Michael Radford and Daniel Gerrell kept the rally going, getting two more runs home. Daughtry was given an intentional walk, and then Adam Nethercutt hit one to short that handcuffed the fielder and get the fifth Princeton score.

Coach Proctor again called on Daughtry to finish the game off, working the final inning. He walked a couple before getting the final out on his second strikeout of the inning.

Pate spread four hits out over his six innings of work, walking two while striking out five.

Radford and Daughtry led Princeton with two hits each.

Friday night Coach Proctor called Chris Hinton to the mound for the Dawgs, and the tall right-hander again gave the coach butterflies. After giving up runs early in his last start and being pulled, Camden hitters tagged him hard in the first, going up with by a 2-1 count on back-to-back doubles.

This night the coach left him in, and Hinton returned to the form that earned Princeton the win in the opening round of the playoffs.

Adam Nethercutt delivered for Princeton in the first, getting a single down to get the first Princeton run home. The offense would need a jolt to get anything going after that.

Enter Pate. He tagged his ninth homer of the year in the top of the fourth. Jonathan Hartley followed with a single, and the Bruin pitcher put the next two Bulldogs on with free passes. Radford delivered a single to put Princeton ahead, 3-2.

In the fifth, Jared McLamb doubled two more runs home to give Princeton their final score.

Hinton retired six Bruin hitters on strikeouts, and gave up just five hits in five innings. He also walked two.

Coach Proctor again called on Daughtry to finish it off, and he struck out four, yielding only one hit and one walk in two innings of work.

Nethercutt and Radford led the PHS attack with two hits apiece.

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