Just three outs away from a no-hitter, Person freshman Dylan Dickens made one mistake to South Granville’s Josh Darroach, who took him deep over the centerfield fence to turn what seemed like a comfortable three-run lead into a palm-sweating 3-2 Person win over the Vikings Wednesday at Rocket Park.

Through six innings of Wednesday’s contest, Dickens (two hits, seven strikeouts and three walks for the game) had the Vikings beating balls into the ground and swinging and missing at sinking fastballs down and in.

It was the second strong performance from Dickens, now 2-0, who went six innings and gave up four hits in a 3-2 victory at Webb last week.

Eight of the first 10 batters he faced were retired on groundouts, and six of the 10 hitters in frames four through six went down via the strikeout.

But after serving up a free pass to the leadoff hitter in the top of the seventh, Dickens had his no-hitter broken up by Darroach’s two-run shot to center, which suddenly made it a 3-2 game.

“You never know what’s going to happen with a freshman. Six-plus innings of no-hit ball — I obviously didn’t expect that,” said Person head coach Steve Evans after the game. “But I was confident we’d get a good outing from him.”

Evans added that the freshman was probably wearing down a bit in the seventh after exceeding 80 pitches in an overall exceptional effort.

“Dylan’s a battler. I liked the way he was able to keep them off balance by spotting his fastball, moving it around, and changing speeds,” said Evans. “The key for him is keeping the ball down, where he can get a lot of groundouts. He did that today.”

Dickens credited his infielders for making the plays behind him on the groundball outs.

“The good defense really helped, the infield had my back the whole game,” he said.

After Darroach’s blast, Nash Blackley’s infield single accounted for South Granville’s second hit of the game and put a runner on with no outs.

As a result, Dickens exited and senior Jeremy Peed was summoned in to save the day. And he did just that by fanning two of the three hitters he faced (the other reached on an error) before the game ended when Person catcher Trey Davis gunned down Blackley, the potential tying run, who made a questionable decision by trying to steal third base.

After receiving the throw, Person third baseman Cody Ellis was just waiting for Blackley, who was out easily.

“Jeremy came in and did a fine job. He shut the door,” commented Evans.

Peed’s description of his mindset entering the seventh-inning situation was simple and to the point.

“My job was to come in and shut them down, that’s it,” he said. “The key pitch in the first strikeout was a 2-and-2 fastball on the outside corner, and I got the second one on a curveball.”

Peed was coming off a complete-game 8-1 win over Cedar Ridge last Friday, where he allowed just two hits and struck out nine.

The Rocket offense was able to muster single runs in the first, third and fourth frames.

Craig Reid led off the first with a triple down the right field line and came in to score on Peed’s single up the middle. Two innings later, Reid led off with a walk and eventually came around on Davis’s infield single.

Zack Oakley scored the game-winning tally when he began the fourth with an infield hit and got all the way to third on a passed ball and a wild pitch. He later scored on another infield hit by Ellis, who was 2-for-3 in the game.

Darroach got the start for the Vikings and pitched six innings, giving up six hits, fanning five and surrendering five base-on-balls. Star third baseman Pratt Maynard, who’s committed to play at N.C. State next fall, had to leave the game in the second inning after suffering an apparent leg injury, while North Carolina-bound catcher Jeff May went 0-for-3 against Dickens.

South Granville, now 2-2, finished 24-5 and advanced to the Division 3A regional semifinals last season. The Vikings were ranked fourth in the state among 3A teams in preseason polls.

Since the third inning of the season opener against Cardinal Gibbons, Person pitching has allowed just five runs, and has given up just eight hits in the last three contests.

The 4-0 Rockets had a scheduled home game with Oxford Webb rained out Friday. They begin Piedmont Athletic Conference action on Tuesday against the Chapel Hill Tigers at Rocket Park (a scheduled 5 p.m. start).