Walk-Off Keeps Rosewood’s State Dream Alive

Walk-Off Keeps Rosewood’s State Dream Alive

ROSEWOOD — In a game that felt more like a heavyweight fight than a playoff baseball game, Rosewood found one final answer Tuesday night.

Jack Adams drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh inning to force home the winning run as the No. 2-seeded Eagles survived a wild offensive showdown with No. 5 Perquimans County, 20-19, in Game 1 of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A Eastern Regional Finals.

The victory gives Rosewood a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series with Game 2 set for tonight on the road.

For a program with a deep postseason history, Tuesday’s win added another unforgettable chapter.

This marks Rosewood’s fifth Eastern Regional Finals appearance since 2007, previously reaching the round in 2010, 2014, 2017 and 2019. The Eagles broke through in 2019, winning the East Regional before advancing to the state championship series. Rosewood fell in the regional finals in each of its other three appearances before this season.

This year’s group, powered by a close-knit senior class of nine players alongside a talented junior core and several underclassmen, may have produced the wildest playoff win in program history.

Rosewood surrendered 19 runs — the most runs allowed in a victory in the MaxPreps era dating back to 2007. The previous highest total allowed in a Rosewood win was 13 in a 15-13 victory during the 2011 season.

It also marked the most runs allowed by a winning team in a North Carolina playoff game since Uwharrie Charter Academy gave up 10 runs in the 2018 state championship game.

And somehow, the Eagles still found a way.

“It came down to the wire” hardly does justice to the chaos.

Perquimans County erased deficits multiple times and eventually tied the game at 19 in the top of the seventh inning behind a Mason Roberts double, a Rosewood error and a Ben Brown RBI single.

But Rosewood answered once more.

With the bases loaded in the bottom half, Adams worked a walk to bring home the winning run and ignite the celebration.

The Eagles pounded out 17 hits while drawing nine walks and stealing nine bases.

Jacob Bond delivered one of the best postseason performances in recent memory, finishing 5-for-5 with six RBIs. The cleanup hitter doubled twice and blasted a two-run homer in the fifth inning.

Adams scored four runs, drove in three and drew three walks, while Braxson Waters added two hits and three RBIs. Cam Rye and Ed Gardner each collected two hits.

Rosewood exploded early, scoring five runs in the first inning before adding seven more in the second to build a quick advantage.

Perquimans County never backed down.

The Pirates answered with five runs in the third inning and continued chipping away throughout the night. Brown finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored, while Roberts and Josh Smith each drove in four runs.

Walker Meads and Evan Conway also had multi-hit performances for Perquimans County, which drew 11 walks in the loss.

Despite the offensive fireworks, the game ultimately came down to survival.

Waters earned the win in relief after allowing six runs — only one earned — in the final inning. Graham Nixon took the loss for Perquimans County after surrendering the winning run in two-thirds of an inning.

Rosewood’s ability to overcome adversity has defined much of this postseason run, but Tuesday’s performance pushed that resilience to another level.

The Eagles had previously allowed 17 runs in a loss to Clayton on Feb. 26, 2026, and 19 runs in a 19-4 loss to Princeton on March 8, 2022. This time, they walked away on the winning side.

Now, one more victory stands between Rosewood and another trip to the state championship series.