Arendell Parrott gets second big win over Jones Senior
By Junious Smith III / Sports Editor KINSTON FREE PRESS
TRENTON | Two weeks ago, Arendell Parrott defeated Jones Senior at home by a score of 10-2.
On Friday, the Patriots traveled to Trenton to play the Trojans again, defeating them by the same margin.
Arendell Parrott got 12 hits and a strong pitching performance from JoJo Spear in a 9-1 victory. The Patriots (18-8) scored two runs in four innings while Spear pitched six strong innings to get the win in a public-private school matchup, the first one occurring in Kinston on April 15.
“We hit the ball exceptionally well (Friday) and in (Thursday’s 8-0 win against Coastal Christian),” Arendell Parrott coach Robert Kravitz said. “Our pitchers have also been great in the stretch — JoJo had a big game and the guys backed him up on defense. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
Zacchaeus Rasberry started the game off with a single and Alex Henderson followed by reaching base on an error. After a sacrifice bunt by Charlie King, Colby McLawhorn hit an RBI grounder and Zach Vendemia followed with a run-scoring double to left to give the Patriots a 2-0 lead. In the top of the second, Henderson hit an RBI grounder and King followed with a single to bring in Rasberry for the 4-0 lead.
Jones Senior (14-7) had the potential for a big inning in the top of the second. Jared Howlett started the frame with a single, Zach Brooks walked and an error on a Dakota Baugus infield shot loaded the bases. Christian Doster singled to left to score the Trojans’ first run, but Spear struck out the next two batters and forced a Jay King grounder to get out of the inning.
“I tried to throw strikes and let the defense make the plays behind me,” Spear said. “When the bases were loaded I tried to put everything low and inside, hoping to force a ground ball. I think that was the turning point getting out of the inning and I gained confidence afterwards.”
Arendell Parrott picked up a run after Trey McLawhorn drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the fourth. The Patriots added two in the sixth on a Colby McLawhorn RBI grounder and Vendemia RBI single, then plated two more on an RBI single by Henderson and a wild pitch to score Rasberry.
“The past few games we’ve been hitting the ball extremely well and getting better as a team,” Matthew Huntley said. “In previous games, we weren’t playing as a team and Coach talked to us about that. We have to start and finish together, and if we do that, we’ll be good and hopefully finish on top.”
Jones Senior coach Jason Barker said the Trojans beat themselves up with six errors, but has been proud of the overall accomplishments.
“(Arendell Parrott didn’t win a championship last year for nothing,” Barker said. “I felt like we’re closer to them than what the score indicated, but we made mistakes in all areas — we had baserunning mistakes, errors, fouled bunts and strikeouts in big positions. Against a team like that, you can’t make mistakes like that.
“The mindstate of the guys is still really good. We’ve achieved all of our goals and had to make new ones. We wanted to win 10 games this season — more than last year — make the playoffs and finish third in the conference.
We’ve been able to do that and now we have to prepare for Bear Grass Tuesday. We haven’t finished second in the conference since 1993, so we’re going to try to do something that hasn’t been done at Jones Senior in a very long time. If we defeat Bear Grass, we’ll be second behind a very good East Carteret team.”
