PENSACOLA, Fla. — After a big Monday night win that Norman North Brian Aylor called one of the most impressive in program history, the Timberwolves did not come out with the same intensity Tuesday night against Greenwood, Ark., in the second game of the Aggie Classic in Pensacola, Fla.
That prompted an in-game talk from Aylor in which he reminded the T-Wolves that they weren’t finished and that a championship remained the goal. And his team responded exactly the way Aylor hoped, overcoming a one-run deficit to run away with an 8-1 victory.
“We had the big win (on Monday) and we came out going through the motions a little bit,” Aylor said. “But they pulled it together and rallied and took care of business.”
Down 1-0 in the fourth inning, North took advantage of a pair of Greenwood errors and several errant pitches to bring in three runs. The T-Wolves added another five in the seventh to put the finishing touches on impressive pitching performances by starter DJ Gasso and reliever Austin Cranford, who pitched three scoreless innings to close out the win.
“DJ has been very consistent for us,” Aylor said. “He threw strikes and made them work for everything. And Cranford threw three great innings to close out the game.”
Next up for North is a 4 p.m. game today against Milton, Fla., that could send North to the championship game. With a win today, if the tiebreakers play out correctly, the Timberwolves will advance to Thursday’s title game.
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