CHINA GROVE — Owen White’s performance may have been a few carats short of perfection Tuesday night, but it illuminated with brilliance.

The freshman right-hander pitched with confidence and precision as Carson edged visiting Enka 1-0 in the first round of the 3A state playoffs.

“That’s big time,” coach Chris Cauble said after the Cougars (17-9) advanced. “He takes it for what it is and he’ll be ready next time his number is called.”

White hurled a complete-game one-hitter, struck out 11 and faced only 24 batters. He blended an upper-crust fastball with a sweeping, low-and-away curve that had many Enka batters waving at pitches just off the plate.

“We haven’t played to our potential the last few weeks,” Enka coach Matt Dawson said after the Jets finished 13-9. “Our pitching and defense have been good. But you’ve got to hit the ball to win.”

They never cracked the code against White, who retired the first 12 batters he faced and later eight of the last nine.

“I just focused on pitching my game,” he said after throwing 88 pitches and notching his eighth win. “I knew I had the good ‘D’ behind me and kept throwing it across the plate, hoping they’d hit it to someone.”

White outpitched hard-luck loser Matt Frisbee, a tall, hard-throwing right-hander who has signed with UNC-Greensboro. Frisbee yielded five hits and a second-inning run on a close play at home.

“It’s hard to walk away,” he said after his final prep appearance. “We’ve been in a hitting slump, but you figured the playoffs would be a new beginning. Expectations for me and the team were super high, so give them credit. They were scrappy.”

Carson catcher Ryan Bearden scored the game’s only run after grounding a leadoff double down the left-field line in the bottom of the second. He advanced to third base on a one-out passed ball and scored on teammate Kris Peacock’s tapper to the left side. Frisbee fielded the ball and quickly flipped it to catcher Dalton Lockhart, but Bearden — who was running on contact — beat the play with an aggressive slide.

“It looked like the kid’s foot slid into (Lockhart’s) shin guard, because part of it came off,” Frisbee explained. “I guess he got in there. If it wasn’t for that we might still be playing.”

Both Bearden and Cauble offered takes on the play.

“I was just ready to run,” Bearden said. “I didn’t hesitate. I saw the ball got there as fast as I could.”

Added Cauble: “We knew this was going to be a low-scoring game that came down to something little, and it did. It was a good clean slide, (the) catcher was up the line a little bit and he tagged him. A couple innings later I asked the umpire and he said his foot was on the plate when he tagged him on the knee.”

White and Carson’s defense made it stand up. Enka’s only hit came in the top of the sixth when leadoff batter Austin Marler beat out a grounder to deep shortstop.

“It wasn’t a mood-changer,” White said. “One hit can’t kill me. I don’t care how many hits we give up as long as we win.”

White provided a convincing closing argument, fanning seven of the last nine Enka batters.

“He was throwing great all night — a variety of pitches and hitting spots with all of them,” Bearden said. “It was an outstanding performance, especially for a ninth-grader. I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do next.”

 

Enka   000 000 0 — 0  1  0

Carson 010 000 x — 1  5  1

WP — White (8-2). LP — Frisbee (6-4).