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Sneed gave credit to his defense, had nothing but good things to say about his pitcher and said he was happy with the overall performance.
Listening to the coach, you would think the Jackets won the game. Instead, they came up short, falling to the Firebirds 2-0 in a tightly-contested game.
“To be honest, that's the best game we've played all year,” Sneed said. “We had great pitching from Jacob Spragins. He kept them off balance ... he made one mistake and that's the difference, 2-0.”
That mistake came in the top of the third.
With the game scoreless, Southern Nash catcher Brian Allen stepped up to the plate and blasted a home run over the fence. Allen (2-2 RBI, HR) brought in Jake Austin and the Firebirds were up 2-0. The rest of the game was marked by good defense and great pitching.
Making his first varsity start on the mound, Spragins pitched a complete game and struck out 10 batters.
“He threw so well tonight,” Sneed said. “I told him, ‘most nights you make one mistake and we are going to win the game for you.' But he did a good job and our defense played solid behind him. We were there making plays; we played a great game, they just played a better game. They are a great team and they showed why they are a great team tonight.”
The Firebirds played some pretty impressive defense also when Roanoke Rapids (2-2) had a chance to answer in the bottom of the third.
After a double by Patrick Brown, a single by Brant Askew and a Seth Wright walk, the Jackets had the bases loaded with two outs. Jacob Dixon stepped up to bat and grounded out to third, leaving three runners on base. It was the first of many times the Yellow Jackets would leave runners stranded.
‘‘That's something we need to work on,” Sneed said. “With runners in scoring position, we got a little anxious. We put ourselves in the hole swinging at some bad pitches. When you get in a hole, the pitcher has total control.”
The Roanoke Rapids defense played great the rest of the contest, coming up with a 3-2 double play in the top of the fifth and leaving three Firebird runners on base in the top of the sixth inning.
‘‘We always talk about leaving guys on base,” Sneed said. “Tonight we did a great job of that. Every time they hit a ball somewhere, our defense was solid.”
Despite the stellar defense, again the Jacket offense could not come through. After a double to center field by Zack Isles and a single by Tyler Deloach, the Jackets had runners on the corners. The next batter, Zack Johnson, was walked by Jesse Mercer and the Firebirds decided to change pitchers. Allen came from his catchers' position and took the mound.
He then struck out Patrick Brown, and after a wild pitch, Isles was thrown out attempting to steal home.
The Roanoke Rapids defense held the Firebirds scoreless in the top of the seventh, and headed into the bottom feeling like they could pull out a comeback.
Allen had other plans, as the senior struck out the first two Roanoke Rapids batters and finished the game by fanning Timmy Smith. Allen pitched two innings and struck out four batters.
“I can't complain,” Sneed said. “Losing stinks, but at the same time you got to work on getting better. We played better than we did the last game, but we just happened to lose. We were fighting until the end and that's what I look for in a good team. We got two more games this week and we need to come back ready to play.”
This Thursday the Yellow Jackets take on Northern Nash.
In the junior varsity contest, Southern Nash defeated Roanoke Rapids 14-7.
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