Skyland – The best-of-three state finals between regional top seeds and winners Roberson (26-4) and the Ashley Screaming Eagle (25-4) squad from Wilmington will be on Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1, near Burlington.
Roberson’s Micah Simpson hurled a complete-game gem in the 3-1 regional title clincher on Thursday, May 23. The 2023 Finals MVP struck out eight Cougars. He allowed only an unearned run, seven hits, and no walks.
The agile “Nimble Ninja” (as the the Tribune calls him) has a smooth delivery. He used his changeup more than usual. It got him “four strikeouts late in the game.” He went the distance since “I kept my pitch count low,” Simpson further told the Tribune. “Three double plays got me out of innings. It was a really team effort.“
Roberson Rams scored a run each in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. The game was tied 1-1 after three innings, but CCHS (23-10) scored no more. Two of TCR’s three hits were from the top of the order, with one a piece from leadoff men Zeb “Swingin'” Swangim and Jake “Scar ‘Em” Parham. Lanky freshman “Happy” Chappy Smith had the other Ram hit.
Table Setters
The Rams swept Charlotte Catholic in two games last week. In the opener on May 22, they “skunked” the visitors 13-0 in four and a half innings in a slaughter-shortened game. The contest seemed over before the visitors could finish chanting 100 “hail Marys” for their fielding errors, wild pitches, and for hitting Ram batters.
Table setters Swangim and Parham singled in the three-run bottom of the first inning. Swangim scored on two errors on a play — a dropped pop fly hit by next batter Caden Davidson, then an errant throw to first base. Simpson and “Rhino” Reno Jeter followed with sacrifice flies for a 3-0 lead.
The Dynamic Duo atop the order were hit by Jack Hedrick pitches in the second inning, hanging in against a pitcher who repeatedly pitched inside to try to back off aggressive Ram hitters. Duke-bound CC ace Hedrick gave up seven runs in less than two full innings. Four runs were earned — more than Hedrick yielded in 2024 before that fateful night.
The other Dynamic Duo are the two sluggers at the lineup’s heart. “Hulk” Davidson doubled in Swangim and Parham with a deep shot to right field. Simpson then blasted the next pitch for a two-run homer to right. He noted that Hedrick busted him inside in his first at-bat, a flyout. He looked for an inside fastball the next time up, got it, and belted it out. “I attacked it!”
Roberson suddenly led 7-0, bouncing out Hedrick. The football-like score is appropriate, for payback for Charlotte Catholic ousting TCR in football playoffs last fall.
Roberson scored two runs on wild pitches in the third and four in the fourth, to surpass the ten-run slaughter threshold. CCHS failed to score four runs to keep the game going.
“Our coaches preach ‘win every inning,’ and we did!,” Jeter said.
Fearsome Foursome
Davidson singled in the game’s final two runs in the fourth inning. He nearly homered with a long flyout in his prior at-bat. He had four RBI. Simpson had three RBI. Head coach Eric “Fightin’ Filly” Filipek chose Davidson as the game MVP, dousing him with cold water in this season’s Ram post-win ritual. The first four batters (all “Joltin’ Juniors”) were game MVP finalists. They had their backs facing their coach, wondering which one would get doused.
Call them the Ram lineup’s Fearsome Foursome. Filipek praised them in the post-win team huddle. “You had no fear, no doubt.” He said that leadoff batter Swangim “‘cut ‘em’” with his hit, setting the tone for an offensive barrage.
Swangim told the Tribune that “I did my job, scoring the first run.” Catcher J.T. “Smack It” Smith said that the Ram offense “starts with Zeb. We keep our energy up.” Davidson said, “We want to do something on offense” — early and often.
Senior starting pitcher Jeter escaped a first-inning, bases-loaded jam. He snared a grounder, and threw home for a forceout. The batter was called out for interference, for a rally-squelching double play. Jeter said he had to over-rely on his fastball, with his curveball and slider off-target.
Reliever Jack “Sting” Ray got the last out in the fourth frame. Freshman Holt “Gas ‘Em” Gaston closed the game. Game two on May 23 was a lower-scoring battle of left-handed starters. Simpson prevailed.
There were good omens lately for Roberson. Charlotte Catholic players are Cougars. So are Asheville Cougars, the Mountain Athletic Conference runners-up and the 4A 13th seed. A round earlier, opposing West Forsyth wore green and gold of MAC third-place team A.C. Reynolds – which Roberson also outdid.