Thach’s one-hitter lifts Perquimans in the opener of the North Carolina 1A baseball finals
On a night when offensive opportunities were rare, Perquimans senior pitcher Tanner Thach came through in a big way for his team, tossing a one-hit shutout against Cherryville, Friday evening at Ting Stadium in Holly Springs, as the Pirates prevailed, 1-0, in the opening game of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA)1A state finals.
Thach, a left-hander who is committed to UNC-Wilmington, needed just 87 pitches to bend the Ironmen to his will. He struck out 12 and Cherryville’s only hit was a harmless one out single in the second inning by Kannon Willis.
The only jam of the evening for Thach came in the fourth when he walked Will Heavner and Will Fowler, back-to-back, with one out. Thach responded with two consecutive strike outs, starting a run of retiring the final 11 batters he faced. He had at least one strike out in every inning and two in every inning but the third.
The only run Perquimans needed came in the fourth. Jacob Meads stroked a leadoff double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jackson Russell and scored on Eli Gregory’s fielder’s choice grounder to third.
Cherryville sophomore Brayden Reynolds took the loss, despite a strong five-inning effort. He scattered seven hits, allowed just the one run, walked only one and struck out two. The Ironman also got a scoreless inning of relief from Tripp Creason.
Perquiman’s Macon Winslow was the only player in the game to collect two hits, going 2-for-3.
The two squads will meet again on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., back at Ting Stadium, as Perquimans attempts to sweep the series and win its second straight NCHSAA Class 1A state championship.
