Thomasville is preparing for their first conference matchup of the season on Tuesday. They will head out on the road to face off against the North Rowan Cavaliers at 6:00 p.m.
Thomasville fought the good fight in their extra-innings match against Starmount on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Rams by a score of 4-3. The loss continues a trend for the Bulldogs in their meetings with the Rams: they've now lost four in a row.
Travail Barnes
| 03/13/25 @ Starmount | 12 |
| 02/28/25 @ Bishop McGuinness | 10 |
| 05/08/24 vs Robbinsville | 10 |
| 04/08/24 @ South Davidson | 9 |
| 03/21/24 vs North Rowan | 7 |
Travail Barnes was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. On the mound, he struck out 12 batters over six innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits. Those 12 strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 3-for-4.
Barnes wasn't the only one making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Matthew Bankhead, who went 2-for-4 with one triple and two RBI.
Meanwhile, North Rowan hadn't done well against South Davidson recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Monday. North Rowan won by a run and slipped past South Davidson 11-10. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
The team relied heavily on Ethan Prange, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs, three doubles, and four RBI. He is becoming a predictor of North Rowan's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 2-1 (and 1-2 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Zion Gillespie, who scored two runs and stole Two bases. while going 2-for-3.
North Rowan was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .438. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .333 or higher in five consecutive games.
Thomasville's defeat dropped their record down to 2-5. As for North Rowan, the victory got them back to even at 3-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Thomasville has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like North Rowan struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Thomasville's way against North Rowan in their previous meeting back in March of 2024, as Thomasville made off with a 15-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Thomasville since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
