Tuesday night baseball goes 3 and 1

3 and 1 in Tuesday night Baseball

The four high school baseball teams went three and one last night. North Moore won in a battle with conference rivals Jordan Mathews, Pinecrest won big against their conference rival Southern Lee. O’Neal put up the runs to defeat Village Christian Academy, and Union Pines lost a close one to conference rivals Scotland. Let’s break it down.

North Moore

The Mustangs coming off a thrilling extra innings win on Friday had the home fans excited for the conference game. They came into the game on a fice game win streak and conference record of 3 and 1. Jordan Mathews came in with a 3-3 overall record and a 2-2 conference record. Will Kennedy started on the mound for the Mustangs, throwing a 105 pitches. During Kennedy’s time on the mound, the opposing team managed to score seven runs, with five being earned. He sat down seven batters and gave up ten hits. He stayed in most of the 7th, with Dawson Futrell taking over with two outs in the 7th. He got the one strikeout to end the game.

The Jets committed seven errors, giving the Mustangs the upper hand. The Mustangs swung the bat well, recording 9 hits in the 9-7 win. The Mustangs got on the board first. Patterson sent a ball flying to center field that hit the wall, giving him a double. Futrell singled bringing in Patterson. and the Jets took the lead in the third. Patterson hit another double, this one to right field. Furr grounded out and on an error by the Jets first baseman Patterson scored te tieing run. In the fifth, the Jets broke the tie scoring one run, but the Mustangs started swinging in the fifth and sixth, scoring 7 between the two innings. The Jets brought in three runs in the top of the seventh, but it was too late. Patterson, Furr, and Futrell led the team in hits, all batting 2 for 4. Futrell earned three RBIs. Nate Dyer went 1 for 3 at the plate but earned four RBIs for the team. The Mustangs move to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play. They will hit the road for a rematch against the Jets on Thursday.

Pinecrest

The Patriots came into Tuesday’s conference game looking to snap a two game losing streak and with a record of 5-2. Addison Roth stepped up, going 3 for 5 from the plate with 5 RBIs. Also going 3 for 5 was Conner Tepatti, who had 2 RBIs in the big win. Baek and Dutton went 3 for 3. The Patriots got on the board first, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first. With one out, the pitcher walked Woolard and hit Hudgins with a pitch. Roth got his night started with a double hitting a fly ball to left bringing in Woolard. Slade singled with a ground ball to center, bringing in Roth and Hudgins. Dutton singled with a line drive to right field, bringing in Slade. The pitcher struck out Skizenta and Lowry to end the inning. Southern Lee scored 3 in the top of the second and tied the game at 4 in the fourth inning. The Patriots score six in the bottom of the fifth, with Baek starting things off with a single lined drive to center. Dutton walked, and Cockman bunted, managing to reach on an error. Vandevander came in to run for Baek. The error allowed him to cross the plate. Floyd reached on a ground ball error allowing Dutton to score. Tepatti hit a line drive to left for an RBI single, Woolard laid down a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher allowing Cockman to score. Roth hit a ground ball to center for an RBI triple. Slade singled on a line drive bringing in Roth. Vandevander grounded out to end the inning.

With a 10-4 lead going into the sixth, Southern Lee got a few on, but great fielding by the Patriots kept any runs from scoring. The Patriots put up another six runs in the bottom of the sixth to end the game 16-4. Konen pitched into the fourth inning, giving up four runs, one earned. He had one strikeout, two walks and three hits. Woolard replaced him in the fourth and had two strikeouts, one walk, and three hits. The Patriots have a scheduled game on Friday at Southern Lee.

O’Neal

The Falcons welcomed Village Christian Academy to Southern Pines Tuesday night. The game was all Falcons scoring every inning, but in the third. Jacob Bates played a big role in the 11-1 win batting 3 for 3, hitting two home runs and earning 7 RBIs. The Falcons went up 3 runs in the first with hits from Thomas (2B), Bates with an RBI single, and Pavlovich with an RBI single. In the second inning, the Falcons scored four runs. Bates hit his first homer of the night, a three-run homer to left field. Falcons gave up one run in the third, the only inning they did not score. In the fourth, Bates hit his second homer of the night again to left field, bringing in the three runs for that inning. The Falcons got another run in the fifth.

The Falcons leading batters were: Slagle 2 for 3, Thomas 3 for 4, Bates 3 for 3 with 7 RBIs. On the mound Shepherd who pitched all five innings, he gave up three hits and one run and struck out seven batters. The Falcons will host Fayetteville Christian on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

Union Pines

The Vikings struggling to turn their season around, sitting at 2-6 after the loss to Scotland on Tuesday. Three of the six losses were by two runs or fewer. Union Pines found themselves trailing 3-1 when they felt a little relief when Austin Mooring homered in the fourth with a fly ball to left scoring two runs to tie the game. Scotland scored two more in the bottom of the fifth and the Vikings didn’t recover. Leading the bats for the Vikings were: Benedict who went 2 for 4, Mooring went 1 for 2 with two RBIs.

On the mound for the Vikings is Benedict, who pitched the full six innings. He sat down six batters, but gave up eight hits, five runs and two walks. Tonight, the Vikings will travel to Western Harnett, whom they defeated 4-1 last week. On Friday, they will host a rematch against Scotland at home.

Some games for Friday are being rescheduled because of the threat of weather.

Written by Curtis Self, Photos of O’Neal and North Moore taken from earlier game by Curtis Self.

This article is being sponsored by The Robbins Express. Make sure you pick up the March coppy today around Northern Moore County. There are several Moore Daily Sports articles in the March issue.