GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — Ninth-ranked Norman North took its show on the road Thursday for the start of the Grand Prairie Classic.
Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, they ran into a tough pitcher and gave up one big inning, falling 6-3 to Cedar Hill (Texas) in the opening round.
“We faced a very good pitcher, their ace,” North coach Bryan Aylor said. “He’s signed with Dallas Baptist. We competed early, we just couldn’t come through offensively.”
Both teams scored one run in the second inning, and North was down 2-1 heading into the top of the fifth.
That’s when Cedar Hill got some help from the T-Wolf pitching staff.
Four runs were scored in the frame, three given up on North wild pitches, the other on a home run.
“Walks hurt us,” Aylor said. “We played pretty solid defensively, but we gave up a home run and those three on wild pitches. When you give a team three runs like that, it’s hard to come back from that. It was just an ugly inning.”
Dakota Shadoan picked up the loss for North and fell to 0-2 on the year. He gave up three earned runs on six hits and three walks in four innings of work.
Matt Southard and Garrett Callen came in to relieve Shadoan after the rough start in the fifth.
North plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but couldn’t come all the way back.
The Classic’s 1 hour, 45 minute time rule kept the seventh inning from being played, when North would have had its 1-2-3 hitters up to bat.
Now the T-Wolves have to win the rest of the way and hope for a loss if they want to make it to Sunday’s championship game.
“One of our main goals is to win every tournament we play,” Aylor said. “This puts us in a difficult position.”
