'Hungry' and 'violent,' Roberson baseball wins rematch vs. Asheville 10-2

ASHEVILLE — As Reno Jeter finished his trip around the bases in the bottom of the sixth Thursday night, the Roberson right fielder stomped on the plate and gave some words to the Asheville students sitting on the first-base side of the stands.

Jeter was sitting curveball in an 0-1 count, and when he got it, he turned it into an exclamation point in the form of a two-run homer over the fence in left-center.

Two days after a frustrating loss to the Cougars knocked the Rams out of the conference title race, Roberson took out its frustration with a 10-2 win in the rematch to close the regular season on a high note despite being without its head coach.

"[Tuesday] was a type of loss where it gave us a lot of unity. We took it as a learning point," center fielder JT Gordon said. "You can't blame it on anything, no excuses. ... We came in here just hungry, ready to win a ballgame."

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As if the rivalry rematch wasn't enough motivation, the Rams were also inspired to get a win for head coach Eric Filipek, whose late ejection over a crucial call Tuesday carried an automatic one-game suspension.

"He stood up for us," left-hander Micah Simpson said. "He's given so much to us and so much as a coach, him not being able to be here today was definitely motivation."

Gordon, who was bumped up from the middle of the lineup Tuesday to the leadoff spot Thursday, didn't even wait for his first plate appearance to set a new tone.

Cougars center fielder Khalil Conley led off the game with a deep fly ball into the gap in left-center, which Gordon tracked down with a dive near the wall for a highlight-reel catch.

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"It's just coming out super violent, not holding anything back after a loss like that," Gordon said. "This game, really in the [standings] didn't mean anything. But to us, it meant a lot."

Asheville small-balled its way to a 1-0 lead in the first, but Gordon singled, stole second and came around to score as part of a two-run response in the bottom half of the frame.

Gordon hit an RBI single in the second inning, too, reaching base three times Thursday.

"JT has been an on-base percentage guy for us all year," acting head coach Shane Galloway said. "I've liked his approach the past four weeks, and it just continued tonight."

The Cougars scored a run in each of the first two innings, but Simpson quieted the offense over the middle of the game. The freshman threw 4.1 scoreless innings in relief and earned the win for a team that hasn't received many long outings from its pitching staff this season.

"I just saw a dog out there," Gordon said of Simpson's performance. "He really just showed a lot of grit, and he wasn't willing to give in or lose."

Roberson's lead was still 3-2 entering the bottom of the fifth, when Jeter began a two-out rally by getting hit by a pitch. Two walks then loaded the bases, and Tyler Kytta, Simpson and Zeb Swangim followed with RBI hits to turn it into a 8-2 game.

In the following frame, Jeter left the yard for an emphatic finish to the night.

"We were trying to give it to 'em," Jeter said. "It felt good off the bat. I knew it was gone."

The Rams will be at home to start the playoffs, though due to not winning the conference, their seeding will be lower than the No. 3 ranking their RPI carries in 4A West.

Not having any hardware from the regular season made the team even more intent on regrouping from Tuesday's disappointment to take some momentum into the playoffs. With the help of Gordon, Simpson, Jeter and an all-around team effort, they considered that mission accomplished.

"The program that we have here, we absolutely do not accept losing. We're shocked when we do lose, especially when we don't play our best brand of baseball," Galloway said. "We challenge them all the time [to] be tough. One-through-nine, if we're tough ... then we have one of the best, if not the best, lineup in the state."

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Roberson baseball beats Asheville in rematch to close regular season