By PBR Staff
Prep Baseball Report of NC

Cabarrus County rivals Central Cabarrus HS and Hickory Ridge HS squared off in a Southern Piedmont Conference tilt.  Hickory Ridge won a back and forth affair, 8-7.

Hickory Ridge jumped out to a 5-0 lead, with two runs in the third and three runs in the fourth.  Central Cabarrus fought back, taking the lead after scoring 3 in the fifth and 4 in the sixth.   

The Bulls tied the game at 7 in the bottom of the 6^th.   Down two, Nolan DeVos (INF/RHP, 2019) reached on an error.  A walk and a SAC bunt put runners on 2^nd and 3^rd as Central Cabarrus turned to their ace, Cameron Kepley (RHP, 2017, App St commit).  A ground ball to right field off the bat of John Riley Hathcock (RHP, 2017, Francis Marion commit) scored two.

In the ninth, still tied at 7, two singles and a balk put runners in scoring position for DeVos who lined a single to left field scoring RJ Coard with the winning run. 

Hickory Ridge used five arms in the game.  DeVos, along with the game winning RBI, worked the last two innings without giving up a run.  In garnering the win, DeVos did not allow a run on two hits and two walks. 

Kepley entered the game for Central in the sixth, working 2.2 innings, striking out five and only allowing one hit and one walk. 

Central Cabarrus              000 043 000       7  -  10  -  5
Hickory Ridge                   002 302 001       8  -  10  -  3

Win: Nolan DeVos            2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 K, 2 BB
Loss: Stephen Kutay        .2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 K, 3 BB

Leading Hitters:

Central Cabarrus:             Cole Foster – 3-5 with 3 RBI and a run scored
                                          Cameron Kepley – 2-6 with 2 RBI and a run scored
                                          Brendan McGee – 2-3 with a RBI

Hickory Ridge:                  Nolan DeVos – 3-5 with 2 runs scored and the GW RBI
                                          RJ Conrad – 2-5 with a run scored
                                          Michael Mutterer – 2-4 with a run scored