Tarboro River Bandit Mason McDougall gets his dugout fired up after his run-scoring double in the fifth inning against the Edenton Steamers on Monday night at Municipal Stadium.
JIM GREEN/ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM
TARBORO — The run is over for the Tarboro River Bandits.
The Bandits, looking to continue its unblemished record against the Edenton Steamers this year, were not able to make it seven in a row and suffered a season-ending 9-4 loss in the Tidewater Division championship game Monday night at Municipal Stadium in Tarboro.
The Bandits, the defending Old North State League champions, finished the season 39-5 overall after the Steamers snapped Tarboro’s 16-game winning streak.
Though the teams are fierce rivals, the Bandits’ loss has to be considered a stunner when taking into account how they fared against Edenton during the regular season.
Tarboro defeated the Steamers all six times, outscoring them 46-23 in the process.
But the visitors Monday displayed clutch hitting and pitching when it mattered most, and the Bandits couldn’t overcome 11 runners left on base in what proved to be their finale.
Edenton set the tone by establishing the lead early, then withstood several comebacks by Tarboro.
The Steamers scored two runs in the top of the first inning on a leadoff double by Brayden Renfrow, a single by Luke Alford and a one-out single from Jaden Greenidge.
The theme of the night for Tarboro was stranded runners.
Tarboro’s Daniel Escalante slides into third base in the fourth inning.
JIM GREEN/ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM
The Bandits put runners on first and third when Cam Greenway walked, stole second and advanced to third on a two-out infield hit by Hayden Carpenter. Steamers starting pitcher Erik Rosas got Daniel Escalante to fly out to end the threat.
Tarboro starter Parker Gay (SouthWest Edgecombe product) retired the Steamers in order in the top of the second, and a two-out walk to Bo Moody gave the Bandits a baserunner in the second. Moody, however, was picked off to end the inning.
Gay set down Edenton in order in the third, and the Bandits put Parker Winfield (hit by pitch) and Greenway (one-out walk) on base in their half of the frame, but Rosas worked out of the jam with two flyouts.
Another 1-2-3 inning from Gay gave Tarboro a boost. Carpenter then led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run to left field — his 15th big fly of the season and third in the last two games. Escalante reached on an error and advanced to third on a wild pitch with two outs. A walk to Moody prompted Steamers’ head coach Hunter Hackney to replace Rosas. After Moody stole second, D.M. Lieux popped out to second to end that uprising with Edenton still ahead 2-1.
Tarboro’s Cam Greenway celebrates his fifth-inning double against the Steamers.
JIM GREEN/ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM
The Steamers added to their lead in the top of the fifth with a clutch two-out, two-run single to make it 4-1.
Doubles from Greenway (with one out) and Mason McDougall (with two outs) cut the deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth, but Edenton got the run back on a leadoff solo homer by Renfrow in the top of the sixth. Two outs later, Greenidge connected on a solo homer of his own to extend Edenton’s lead to 6-2.
The Bandits threatened again in the bottom of the sixth on three straight one-out hits (Cooper Williamson, Brady Atwell and Moody) to load the bases. Steamers’ reliever Carver Kamentz got Lieux to fly out to first but then hit Cam Mallo to plate Williamson to cut the lead to 6-3. Kamentz then got out of the frame with a groundout.
The Bandits added a run in the bottom of the eight inning when Escalante was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a single by Williamson and scored on a one-out single by Moody. Williamson was safe at third on the hit when the throw to the plate was cut off and the resulting throw to the base trickled away. The inning ended after consecutive infield flyouts.
The Steamers then added their final three runs in the top of the ninth on two hits, one being a two-run single, and a pair of bases-loaded walks, to go up by five runs.
Greenway reached on an error to start Tarboro’s final at-bat, but Gabe Gutter lined into a double play, and a flyout to short ended the Bandits season as the Steamers — in a twist — celebrated in the same centerfield area where the Bandits had celebrated 39 times before.