Jordan pulls away from Carrboro baseball

Jordan baseball stayed undefeated in the Hilltop Invitational Tournament, pulling away to defeat a resilient Carrboro squad 11-5 at Chapel Hill High School Friday night.

“Our guys take a few days off and then come out here with great weather … and we’ll come as long as they have this tournament,” Jordan coach Aaron Brown said.

The Falcons (6-9) jumped out to a quick start, scoring three runs to open the inning.

The Jaguars (3-9) slowly but surely clawed their way back into contention with Will Wagner, Collin Andres, Matt Junker and Noah Jones all making their way home in the ensuing three innings to tie the game up.

To open the sixth inning, Jordan went through the entire lineup – with Ben Miller batting twice – with Miller, Nick Fajardo, Connor Garcia, Will Hoyle and Tyler Wilson combining to score five runs.

“We fought and opened the sixth with a five-run inning and that’s what we needed to do,” Brown said. “The strength of our team is our offense … we talk all the time about maximizing on offense, two out hits and having players on base.”

In the final two innings, Miller and Mike Henry held the Jags to only one run to secure the six-run victory.

Wilson advanced home on an error to put the nail in the coffin at the top of the seventh.

After graduating 10 seniors last season, Carrboro has struggled this year with a young roster. Coach Shaughn Neal is happy his squad kept it close for the majority of the night, an encouraging sign as the Jags head into the latter half of the season.

“I think we battled even after they scored five. The first part of our season was tough but they way these kids have responded coming into spring break is huge,” he said. “The young guys have grown a little bit and we’re looking for them to grow a lot more and I think they will. They’ve learned a lot and have grown up a lot.”

Turning point

Miller’s double to open the sixth gave the Falcons momentum as Fajardo, Garcia, Hoyle and Wilson each earned consecutive hits after him that combined for seven bases.

Three to know

Connor Garcia, Jordan: Garcia bat 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs, two runs and a steal.

Ben Miller, Jordan: Spurred the Falcons’ momentum that eventually won them the game.

Collin Andres, Carrboro: Bat 2-for-3 with an RBI.

This story was originally published April 1, 2016 at 11:21 PM with the headline "Jordan pulls away from Carrboro baseball."