Rocky Mount gets a no-hitter in its 9-0 playoff win over Dudley

 - RMHS senior Chris Berry

ROCKY MOUNT - What a way to break a string of bad luck!                                                   

Rocky Mount's baseball team had not won a playoff game since 2001 and the current squad of seniors was 0-2 in first-round efforts.

That bit of negativity was blasted away Friday evening in style. Senior Chris Berry fired his first career no-hitter in helping Rocky Mount beat Greensboro Dudley 9-0 in their NCSHAA 3-A baseball state playoff opener at Gryphon Stadium.

Berry, a surprise starter for head coach Pat Smith's squad, allowed three baserunners via two errors and a passed ball-third strike. The Gryphons' defense came up with three double plays to erase all three as Berry faced the minimum - 21 batters - on the night. He recorded a career-high nine strikeouts.

Rocky Mount (20-5) will next hit the road Tuesday with a trip to Sanford to face Southern Lee, a 6-0 winner over Bartlett Yancey Friday. Southern Lee (15-8) is the No. 1 seed from the Cape Fear Valley Conference. The Gryphons' last playoff triumph came at Hillsborough Orange in a 5-0 victory in 2001. Then-senior and future N.C. Gatorade Player of the Year Carter Harrell hurled a one-hitter and struck out a school-record 19 batters in the outing.  

Berry and Harrell are also connected. The last Gryphon player to throw a postseason no-hitter prior to Berry was Harrell in a home first-round victory over New Hanover in 2000. 

With two outs in the bottom of the first, RMHS was able to push two runs across the plate - thanks to three Panther errors. Junior Brian Goodwin (three runs scored) delivered a two-out double and took third on a Dudley miscue to set up the rally.

Three more RMHS runs came in the second - helped by a two-run double by Berry. In the fourth, Dudley's lefty starter Ruben Torellas balked in Goodwin from third and Jim Leggett delivered a sac fly to plate Berry (doubled) to give the Gryphs a 7-0 cushion.

Back-to-back RBI-singles by Ben Fish and Leggett in the sixth closed out the scoring for the night.

Posted by: North Carolina

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