SNOW HILL — Greene Central walked a tightrope without a net but never fell Wednesday in its Eastern Plains 2A Conference opener with Wilson Beddingfield.
The visiting Bruins left runners on base in every inning, but Greene Central used a gutsy pitching performance from Ben Brann to escape with a 2-1 victory at the Fulghum Athletic Complex.
“I guess we lived on the edge,” Rams coach Scott Jones said. “We made plays when we had to and 1-0 is definitely better than 0-1.”
Brann, a senior lefthander, surrendered just four hits but struggled with his control, walking six to go with six strike outs.
“With the weather Ben just hasn’t had a lot of time facing live hitters,” Jones said. “We know he’s a better pitcher than he showed today. He didn’t have his best stuff but he made some clutch pitches when we needed them.”
Offensively, Greene Central managed just five hits. Two, however, opened the game and helped the Rams get off to a fast start.
Leadoff hitter Chandler Barrow tripled to deep center field and then scored on a base hit by Brann. The Rams (2-1, 1-0) added another unearned run in the third after Chad Murphy led off with a base hit and eventually tallied on an error.
Beddingfield (3-1, 1-1) scored an unearned run of its own in the sixth and left two runners on in the seventh.
The key moment may have come in the third when the Bruins placed runners at first and third with one out.
The next batter, Joel Whitley, ripped a hard grounder to Greene Central shortstop Murphy, who flipped to second baseman Dylan Taylor to begin an inning-ending twin killing that preserved what at the time was a 1-0 lead.
“Our defense made several plays that helped Ben out,” Jones said. “Looking back, that double play was huge.”
Taylor and Mason Head collected the other hits for the Rams, who tangle with league foe Tarboro on Friday.
Beddingfield 000 001 0—1 4 2
Greene Central 101 000 x—2 5 1
Flora and Jones; Brann and M. Head. W—Brann. L—Flora.