York baseball knocks off Rock Hill for second time in region play

York Cougars baseball scored an 8-6 road win at Rock Hill High Thursday night to move to 8-3 overall and 4-2 in the region.

Junior right-handed pitcher John Moorefield played a big part in the win despite not finishing with the cleanest line in the box score. Moorefield threw six complete innings, surrendering eight hits, striking out six but allowing all six of Rock Hill’s runs. But two of those runs were unearned and two more came across in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a two-out, two-strike double by the Bearcats’ Winthrop signee Bryon Foust.

Still, Moorefield did what he needed to do to help his team earn the victory.

“John pitched well for us,” said York’s first-year coach Eddie Tisdale. “He locates his change-up, he locates his curveball for strikes, he’s got good mound presence. He likes to control the tempo of the game. That’s always good when a guy’s comfortable controlling the game out there. If we can get more starts out of him like that we’ll be in good shape.”

York trailed the home Bearcats by a score of 4-2 through four innings before opening things up with a six-run fifth. The inning started in unimpressive fashion as leadoff man Adam Hoffman singled to start the inning but was quickly erased on a fielder’s choice where Hunter Horne beat out a potential double-play ball. A few hits, an error and another fielder’s choice set up RBI doubles by six-hole hitter Ryan Gilbert, eight-hole hitter Will Prince and nine-hole hitter Luc Greene. By inning’s end, York had retaken the lead by a count of 8-4 thanks in large part to the bottom of the order.

“That’s a quality club,” said Tisdale of the Rock Hill team, which dropped to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in region play. “They’re a tough ball club to beat so any time you can pick up a win against them it’s always a good win.

“We had a good approach at the plate tonight. We weren’t trying to do too much. When you stay short and don’t try to do too much at the dish you can have success. A lot of our guys have bought into that.”

York jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when junior Aaron Harper doubled home Horne, who had singled with one out in the top of the first. Both Harper and Horne finished 2-for-4. The Cougars added another run in the third when Greene started off the frame with a double to left center. Consecutive singles by Hoffman and Horne would push Green around, making it 2-0 York.

Rock Hill answered by scoring one in the bottom of the third and then three in their half of the fourth, taking their final lead of the game by a score of 4-2. It was the leadoff man for the Bearcats who delivered the big hit in the three-run inning. Zach Carter, an Erskine signee, was fooled badly and took a swing at an off-speed pitch low and away. However he regrouped quickly by turning on a ball and blistering a two-RBI triple down the right field line.

Still, it was the big top of the fifth that Rock Hill was unable to overcome. Starting pitcher Isaac Rodgers did not have enough to get out of that frame. Rodgers, who took the loss, ended up throwing 4.2 innings, surrendering eight runs (two earned) on twelve hits while striking out seven. Grant Wilson came out of the bullpen for Rock Hill and recorded the final seven outs without allowing a run.

“Pitching and defense, ain’t no question, and executing the small things” said coach Dell Corley on the keys to his team getting back on track. “[York is] very well coached. I was impressed. They’re doing the little things.”

It is a game of little things, and in this one, York executed. Rock Hill did not.

“You scrap, fight, try to play good defense, stay in the ballgame,” Tisdale said, “and hopefully you end up getting a big hit here and there and score enough runs to win a ballgame.”

This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 8:45 AM with the headline "York baseball knocks off Rock Hill for second time in region play."