Please excuse Josh Grimes” heroic moment Saturday night in the New Hope High School baseball team”s 11-1 win against Lake Cormorant.
This is new for him.
Grimes had never hit a home run for the Trojans, let alone a grand slam that propelled his team into the third round of the Class 5A North State playoffs. So when his moment came in front of the home crowd, he was just as unprepared for it as his teammates and many of the fans in attendance.
After making contact in the fourth inning, he yelled at the ball as it approached right field. By the time it traveled over the wall, he had lost track of it, relying on the crowd to alert him with cheers if it cleared.
Grimes was so excited, he forgot to receive a congratulatory handshake from first-base coach Bobby Taylor as he rounded the bases. Grimes didn”t hear the music playing as his teammates left the dugout, celebrating as they waited for him to reach home plate.
“When he hit, I was like, ”It can”t be,” ” teammate Kameron Bryan said. ” ”He”s going to hit the wall. It”s going to hit the top of the wall?” And then I saw it clear …”
Once home, Grimes received his first team scrub as his teammates escorted him back to the dugout, the player whose swing awoke the offense and helped complete a sweep of the best-of-three series.
“I”ve never hit a home run before,” said Grimes, who ended three weeks of offensive struggles with one swing. “A grand slam in the playoffs, my senior year, it”s my senior moment, I”d say.”
Grimes” play overshadowed Lake Cormorant”s hit play — Brad Helton”s solo home run in the third gave the Gators a 1-0 lead. But that was one of the few mistakes made by starting pitcher Dillon Hawkins, who allowed just two hits.
One week earlier, Grimes was hitless during New Hope”s first-round playoff series against Jackson Lanier. After the series, he talked to coach Lee Boyd.
“He came in the dugout saying, ”Coach, I”ve been struggling. What am I doing wrong?” ” Boyd said.
Boyd told him it”s just baseball. Sometimes you go into unexplained funks. But he also told Grimes to continue to work at it. And he did, working in his free time with former New Hope assistant coach Steve Younger.
“I couldn”t be prouder for him,” Boyd said. “His hard work has paid off.”
Two batters later, Dusty Dyson increased the lead to 6-1 with a double to left-center field. In the fifth, the Trojans (23-7) scored another five runs — four off errors in the field and passed balls.
Landon Boyd hit a grounder to second that was overthrown to first, scoring a run. After Helton was pulled from the mound, new pitcher Steven Patrick walked Trae Collins then hit Grimes, allowing another run to score. Then with Taylor Stafford at bat, two more passed balls allowed two more runs to score.
Stafford then drove in the winning run with a grounder to first.
“We had guys on base,” Boyd said. “In the playoffs, you take everything you can get.”
Bryan and Peyton Lee had two hits apiece for the Trojans.
On Friday, New Hope rallied for six runs in the top of the seventh to help take the series lead. Landon Boyd pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed five hits and four earned runs. He walked three and struck out five. Stafford pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits. He walked one and struck out four.
Collins was 1-for-3 with two RBIs, Zac Nagy had an RBI, Jared Shelton was 3-for-4 with a double, Boyd was 1-for-3, Grimes was 2-for-2 with a double, Bryan was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI, Dyson was 1-for-4 with two runs scored and a double, and Austin Oglesby scored two runs.
New Hope will advance to play Ridgeland in the next round. That series will begin Friday at Ridgeland.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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