ZEBULON — Chris Berry shuffled off the pitcher's mound at Five County Stadium early Saturday afternoon, his hands on his hips, his shoulders slumped, his eyes pointed toward the dirt and the grass. He had struggled for more than an hour, almost from his first pitch, and now he was on the edge of letting down each of his teammates in the most important game of the season.

A little more than six hours later, Berry, a senior pitcher for the Rocky Mount High baseball team, walked off the mound again. But this time, he did not shuffle or slouch or stare at the ground. No, this time, he jumped high in the air, his arms stretched out, his eyes wide with joy and excitement. This time, he had excelled, and this time, against all the odds that might have been stacked against him only hours earlier, he had wrapped up a state championship win for the Gryphons.

Berry floundered early Saturday, the last day of his high school sports career, when he dropped the Gryphons in a hole after the first inning and was tagged with the loss in game two of the NCHSAA 3-A state championship series. But he shined later, when it mattered most. Berry batted 3-for-4 with a double and four RBI to give the Gryphons an early lead in game three of the series. Then, with the game and the season and the crown at stake, he retired the East Rowan Mustangs in order in the bottom of the seventh to pick up the save.

He had fired the last pitch of the season. He had helped lead the Gryphons to their first state title in more than a quarter of a century.

"Chris Berry is a competitor," Rocky Mount coach Pat Smith said. "And Chris Berry is a bulldog. And I wanted that ball in his hand."

A little more than three weeks ago, Berry seldom received the ball at all, let alone in situations steeped with as much pressure as he faced Saturday. During the regular season, he appeared in only a handful of games as a pitcher, and entered the state playoffs with a 2-1 record.

But then, with the Gryphons in need of a No. 2 starter behind ace Jim Leggett, Berry received the ball in the first round of the playoffs. And he turned in a no-hitter during a 9-0 win against Greensboro Dudley.

A week later, in the third round, he pitched a three-hitter in a 3-1 win over South Johnston.

And after that, in game one of the Eastern Regional championship series he fired a one-hitter in an 11-1 win over Greenville Conley.

All of which is why the struggles Berry endured Saturday were all the more a shock and a surprise. He allowed the Mustangs to score three runs in the first inning, and yielded six runs, four earned, over 5 1-3 innings.

But Smith said he talked with Berry toward the end of a four-hour break between games two and three. The Gryphons were about to send Benton Moss, a heck of a No. 3 starter but a freshman nonetheless, to the mound. A couple of older Gryphons with fresher arms might have to pitch the late innings.

"About when we got back I talked with Chris, I said, 'Chris, I might have to use you now,'" Smith said. "And he wanted the ball."

And after the Gryphons grabbed an early lead, and after Moss worked into the sixth, and after Nick Hahula worked out of the inning with the lead secure, Smith handed Berry the ball.

"I wanted the ball so much," Berry said. "Coach handed me the ball, that was the most I have ever wanted to pitch in my life. I was determined to get those three outs as quickly as possible."

He needed only seven pitches to retire the side.

"He mowed 'em down," Moss said. "He was awesome."

How had Berry turned from a potential goat into one of many heroes for the Gryphons?

"I realized I had screwed up in the first game," Berry said. "And now the state championship was on the line. And I had to give it all I had to win the game."

He did.

Matt LaWell can be reached at 407-9952 or mlawell@coxnc.com