Monteith Three-Run Home In Bottom of Eighth Catalyst for North Greenville in Win Over Belmont Abbey
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WILSON, N.C. – A Pat Monteith three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled top-seeded North Greenville to an eventual 12-9 victory over third-seeded Belmont Abbey in the 2022 Conference Carolinas Baseball Championship at Historic Fleming Stadium.
The win kept North Greenville undefeated in the Conference Carolinas Baseball Championship, while Belmont Abbey bowed out of the tournament with the loss.
In a game that encompassed seven hours and 24 minutes with many starts and stops due to lightning and rain in the area, Belmont Abbey came out of the gates strong with five runs in the top of the first inning. Ben Gobbel singled to right-center field to score Sean Johnson and capture the first run of the inning. Just one batter Gobbel was brought home too after a Kale Rhame home run made it 3-0 in favor of Belmont Abbey. A few batters later with two runners in scoring position, Patrick Taylor singled into left field to bring home both Connor Tucker and Zach Aehlert for the very early 5-0 lead for Belmont Abbey.
North Greenville would start trying to chip away at the Belmont Abbey lead from there with a Gehrig Octavio triple to right-center field plating two in the bottom of the second. The triple that made it 5-2 scored both Zach Zarra and Jax Cash for North Greenville.
An inning later, North Greenville would post two more runs on the board to pull within one of Belmont Abbey at 5-4.
Belmont Abbey would push its lead to two runs at 6-4 in the top of the sixth inning with a single run. Taylor put two runners in scoring position in the inning when his double to left-center field also moved over Tucker to third. Adam Overcash made sure to bring a run home when his sacrifice fly allowed Tucker to cross the dish.
The runs would keep coming in the bottom of the sixth with North Greenville taking its first lead of the day by manufacturing three runs on two hits and an error in the inning.
Belmont Abbey would match North Greenville’s three runs with three runs of their own in the top of the seventh inning. The inning began with Rhame collecting an infield single. Aehlert then doubled to left-center field to put two runners in scoring position. After Tucker was hit by a pitch the bases were loaded. Taylor then singled in a run to tie things up at 7-all. Brought in as a pinch hitter, Carter Duhaime singled in Aehlert to put Belmont Abbey back ahead at 8-7. Johnson would then sacrifice in Tucker shortly thereafter to give Belmont Abbey the two-run lead at 9-7.
The Monteith three-run home run was followed up by two more runs in a five-run bottom of the eighth that led to North Greenville earning the three-run win.
Belmont Abbey finished with a 15-8 hitting advantage, but Belmont Abbey also committed seven errors in the game.
Three players finished with two hits for North Greenville in Octavio, Ethan Stringer and Marek Chlup. Octavio scored two runs and had two RBIs, while Stringer scored twice. Chlup scored twice and had one RBI.
Rhame had a career day for Belmont Abbey, ending his efforts by going 5-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Taylor also had a career-best four hits for Belmont Abbey. He had three RBIs in the game.
Six different pitchers saw the mound for North Greenville with Dawson Taylor earning the win. Tristen Hudson struck out three in the top of the ninth to earn the save. Belmont Abbey also utilized the services of six pitchers with Avery Short taking the loss.
2022 Conference Carolinas Baseball Championship
Historic Fleming Stadium | Wilson, N.C.
Play-in Round – Wednesday, May 4
Game 1: #6 King def. #7 Francis Marion, 9-4 (
Box Score)
Game 2: #8 Barton def. #5 Erskine, 21-2 (
Box Score)
First Round - Thursday, May 5
Game 3: #4 Mount Olive def. #3 Belmont Abbey, 6-5 (
Box Score)
Game 4: #8 Barton def. #2 UNC Pembroke, 6-5 (
Box Score)
Game 5: #1 North Greenville def. #6 King, 8-3 (
Box Score)
Second Round - Friday, May 6
Game 6: #2 UNC Pembroke def. #6 King, 11-7 (
Box Score)
Game 7: #1 North Greenville def. #3 Belmont Abbey, 12-9 (
Box Score)
Saturday, May 7
Game 8: #4 Mount Olive vs. #8 Barton, 11 a.m.
Game 9: #2 UNC Pembroke vs. Loser Game 8 (45 minutes after Game 8; Elimination Game)
Game 10: #1 North Grenville vs. Winner Game 8 (45 minutes after Game 9)
Sunday, May 8
Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Loser Game 10, TBA (Semifinal; Elimination Game)
Game 12: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11, TBA (Championship)
Monday, May 9
Game 13: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12, 12 p.m. (If Necessary)