LEICESTER - Shutting out the Roberson Rams for an inning is difficult.
Doing it for a game might be impossible - or at least it has been this season.
"Before the game is over," junior Cameron Maybin said, "something will happen with this lineup."
Such was the case Monday afternoon when Roberson exploded for nine runs in the third inning en route to an 11-0 win over Enka in the Buncombe County Tournament.
The game ended after five innings, marking the sixth time this season Roberson (12-0) has invoked the 10-run mercy rule.
"We are tickled to death with our lineup from top to bottom," said Roberson coach Tom Smith, whose team has scored 135 runs for an average of 11.25 runs per game.
Erwin will play Reynolds at 5 p.m. today. The winner will play Roberson in the championship game at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Maybin accounted for six of the Rams' runs against the Jets.
He smashed a two-run, 400-foot home run to left field in the first inning and crushed a three-run, 425-foot home run to center field in the third inning.
He scored another run in the third inning, when he batted twice. Junior pitcher Josh Parish (11 runs on eight hits and one error with three strikeouts and four walks in three innings) walked him in his first at-bat in the third inning. He stole second and third before he scored on Tyler Radford's RBI single.
"It was the Cameron Maybin show," Smith said. "Even though he is batting over .500, he would probably tell you that he has been struggling at the plate. But we spent some time in the batting cage, and that has helped him."
Junior Wesley Williams (two runs and one RBI) and senior Justin Talbot (one run and two RBI) each collected two hits for the Rams. Freshman Justin Jackson added a two-run double and scored one run.
"We work on our hitting a lot," Williams said. "That is basically all we do."
Sophomore pitcher Josh Thrailkill (6-0) allowed two hits with five strikeouts and no walks in four innings. Senior reliever Eric Stewart finished the game with a three-up, three-down fifth inning.
"I'm not satisfied with my performance because I didn't have quite the pop on my fastball that I normally do," Thrailkill said, "but I got the win."
Contact Messer at 232-5837 or [email protected].