Staff report
East Rowan has forced a deciding third game of the 3A state championship series by winning 6-2 against Rocky Mount on Saturday at Five County Stadium in Zebulon.
East (29-3) scored three runs in the top half of the first inning and led by at least two runs the rest of the way. Justin Roland and Zach Smith scored on Micah Jarrett’s first-inning triple, and Jarrett came home on a sacrifice fly by Trey Holmes.
Jarrett scored on a fifth-inning triple by Homes to give East a 4-1 lead, and the Mustangs added to a 4-2 edge in the sixth. They scored two runs on a two-out throwing error.
Roland (6-0) pitched for East and limited Rocky Mount (26-6) to seven hits. He struck out Brian Goodwin, a junior who has committed to North Carolina, to leave two runners stranded in the seventh. Jarrett led East with three hits, including two triples.
Game 3 will begin today at 5 p.m.