Trojan baseball has the best start in FTCC baseball history. With a season opening win against Wake Tech Community College and a 4-game weekend sweep over Guilford Tech, baseball starts off 5-0 on the season.
FTCC @ Wake Tech- Wednesday, January 31 (7-3, Win)
Baseball opened their season on the road after a weekend cancelation of games in Georgia at Wake Tech Community College.
On the mound to start for the Trojans was Benjamin Rohrbach, a sophomore from Stafford, Virginia. He threw one inning giving up one run, two hits and earning his first strikeout of the season. On the pitching side, the Trojans staffed the rest of the game with the following arms: Hunter Beard, Jack Anderson, Xander Davis, Biz Ortiz, Brett Alvis, Adam Smith, Matthew Roberts, Payton Jernigan and Drew Canody.
The Trojans were slow to start offensively, not scoring a run until the fifth inning, trailing Wake Tech 2-0. Derrick Hall (Fayetteville, NC) singled to start off the fifth inning, trying to stretch it into a double he was thrown out at second base by the right fielder. With now one out, Jaylon Woodley (Courtland, VA) singled to get the momentum rolling for the Trojans again. Mason Turner (Lexington, SC) followed with another single, advancing Woodley to third base. Drew Canody (Tampa, FL) earned the first RBI of the season for the Trojans scoring Woodley on a fielder’s choice. Caleb Holland (Fayetteville, NC) belted a double to center field for the fourth hit of the inning, scoring Canody from first base. Wilmer Cuevas (Brentwood, NY) reached on an error by the second baseman for the Eagles, giving the Trojans the lead, as Holland scores from second base on the play.
The Eagles responded back in the bottom of the seventh, taking advantage of a walk and a hit by pitch, they had one timely hit and a sacrifice fly to tie the game back up at 3-3. The tied ball game did not last long when Holland led off the top of the eighth, blasting a bullet over the fence to advance the Trojans to a 4-3 lead.
Jernigan came back in to pitch another inning for the Trojans, allowing one hit and no runs for the Eagles in the inning end up earing him his first win of the season.
The Trojans added three more insurance runs in the top of the ninth, starting with one out walks from Woodley and Turner. Canody followed with a single to load the bases before Braylan Bull (Cumming, GA) hit his first single of the season scoring two. The Eagles first baseman fumbled a ball hit by Devin Outlaw (Jacksonville, FL) allowing one more run to score before the fly out from Zavion Ingram (Clayton, NC) to end the inning.
Canody came in as the closer in the bottom of the ninth and struck out the side to secure the win for the Trojans.
Trojans ended the game with 10 hits and 7 runs, while the pitching staff earned 10 strikeouts.
Full stats
FTCC vs. Guilford Tech- Saturday, February 3 (8-1, Win & 5-1, Win)
Opening weekend at JP Riddle was very good to the Trojans, allowing only two runs in 14 innings.
Game one
Robert Willis (Montgomery, AL) started game one on the mound for the Trojans, allowing no runs, no hits and two walks in the top of the first.
Woodley starts off the game with a single to the five-six hole, then advances to third base with a ground out by Turner. Canody starts his 4-6 day with a ground ball single to left field scoring Woodley to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead going into the top of the second.
Willis continues on the mound for another 1.2 innings allowing no runs for the Titans. Rohrbach then comes in in the third inning with two outs and runners on second and third base. He throws three pitches to strike out Hayes to get out of the jam.
Bull gets hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the fourth for the Trojans. With one out, Cameron Rizzo (Glen Allen, VA) doubles to left field scoring Bull from first base. Ingram and Turner both get hit by pitches to load the bases for the Trojans with two outs. Canody then gets up with the bases loaded and on the first pitch of the at bat, smashes a grand slam home run over the left field wall. The Trojans go into the top of the fifth leading 6-0 over the Titans.
With a pitching change in the sixth, the Titans earn their one and only run of the contest on a single to left field. Jack Anderson, who came into pitch, then finish the inning with a strikeout and a fielder’s choice.
Trojans score two more runs in the sixth from an error and a wild pitch to bring their lead to 8-1 going into the final inning.
Anderson comes back out to the mound in the final inning. The Titans go three up, three down to finish the game.
Trojans ended game one with 8 hits and 8 runs, while the pitching staff earns 12 strikeouts.
Game two
The Trojans bring the same energy in game two, scoring five runs on seven hits. Caleb Holland throws five innings, giving up one unearned run with one hit and four strikeouts. Brett Alvis finished the remaining 1.2 innings with four strikeouts.
FTCC jumps on top early scoring one run in the bottom of the second when Markey Purvis (Bennettsville, SC) hits a triple to right field and then scores on a pass ball three pitches later.
Holland goes back out on the mound with three straight outs in the top of third before the Trojans score two more runs in the bottom. With one out and no one on, Canody hits his second homerun on the day. Followed by a single from Cuevas and a double by Raymond Humphery (Orlando, FL). Cuevas scores on a pass ball to put the Trojans up 3-0.
Purvis gets a rally started again in the fourth, starting the inning on a hit by pitch and later scores on a single by Woodley. Canody stays hot with a two out single to score Woodley for the Trojans fifth run.
A few errors in the fifth by the Trojans, allows the Titans to get on the board with one run. Alvis comes back to the mound in the seventh for a one, two, three inning to give the Trojans their first sweep.
FTCC @ Guilford Tech- Sunday, February 4 (6-2, Win & 10-4, Win)
The Trojans traveled to High Point, NC to face the Titans in two more games.
Game one
Woodley leads off the top of the first with a line drive double to right field. Ingram then reaches on an error from the throw of his ground ball, Woodley scores on the same play. The Trojans go into the bottom of the first with a 1-0 lead.
Tanner McNeal (Currituck County, NC) starts on the hump for the Trojans, giving up only one run in four innings of work. The one run comes from a Titans homerun that led off the bottom of the third inning.
Jernigan comes into the relieve McNeal in the bottom of the fifth, giving up the Titans other run from a homerun.
The Trojans go cold with their bats until the top of the seventh inning when a rally breaks out. The inning starts off with a one out single by Woodley, followed by a two out single by Canody. Down to their final out, Oscar Rodriguez (Clinton, NC) enters the Trojan line up as a pinch hitter. With two outs and runners on first and second, Rodriguez sends a single into center field to score Woodley to keep the game alive. Outlaw then walks loading the bases for Bull. Bull earns an RBI from his walk, giving the Trojans a 3-2 lead. With the bases loaded, Purvis hits a line drive double in left field plating two more for the Trojans. Bull scores on a passed ball before the inning ends, giving the Trojans the advantage going into the bottom of the seventh.
Canody is now on the mound for the Trojans as they start the inning with an error. With a runner on first, ball is hit back to Canody who turns a double play to get a quick two outs. The Titans answer with a single, but a fly out to Outlaw in right field ends the game.
Game two
The Trojans keep their energy alive going into game two as they score two in the first inning. Woodley gives the spark with a leadoff walk, followed with a single by Turner and a hit by pitch from Cuevas. Ingram hits a fielder’s choice to second base that scores Woodley, but leaves the Trojans in a first and third situation. They do a double steal with Ingram running to second base and Turner stealing home to plate their second run of the inning.
The Titans answer right back in the bottom of the first bringing the game to a tie at two. Hunter Beard (Spring Lake, NC) starts on the bump, giving up a double and a walk with a few errors allows the Titans to get back into the game.
Rizzo brings the eyes back to the Trojan side in the third when he hits a line drive double to left field scoring Outlaw who was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning. Purvis then hits his second triple in the series to score Rizzo who was on third base. The Trojans passed the bat as Woodley singled to score Purvis, followed by a single from Turner and Ingram to score Woodley making the score 6-2 after three innings of play.
Adam Smith (Raleigh, NC) walks the first Titan batter in the third, but recovers quickly with a fielder’s choice and two strikeouts to keep the lead in the Trojan’s favor.
The bats get quiet for the Trojans in the fourth, with three straight outs. Followed by some noise on the Guilford Tech side as they score their next runs off of two new arms for the Trojans: Xander Davis (Carolina Beach, NC) and Michael Abrahanson (Dominican Republic).
Getting back to the top of the lineup in the fifth for the Trojans, Woodley stays hot with a triple to center field and later scores by a sacrifice fly by Turner. Trojans now lead 7-4.
The Trojans bring in Sebastian Benitez-Martinez (Fayetteville, NC) who gives them three quick outs, allowing only one hit in the fifth and two walks in the sixth.
FTCC scores their final insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning bringing the score to 10-4 Trojans. Aaron Graves (Upper Marlboro, MD) walks to lead off the inning. Turner singles, Cuevas singles scoring Graves. Outlaw is the final hitter of the game for the Trojans who continues with another single scoring two more runs, but gets thrown out at second base.
Matthew Roberts (Canton, NC) is the sixth and final pitcher for the Trojans, getting a fly out, strikeout and ground out to end the 4-game series against Guilford Tech.
The Trojans finish game two with 11 hits, 10 runs and 8 strikeouts from the pitching staff.
The next game for Trojan Baseball is Wednesday, February 7 at Gaston College with a 1pm start. The next home game for the Trojans is Saturday, February 17 when they host Southeastern Community College to open conference play.