Monday night’s baseball showdown between Midway and Triton unfolded much differently this time around than it did a week earlier. In last weeks battle, Midway ground out a high scoring 12-7 victory that saw the Hawks use their entire arsenal of pitching against a hit-happy Raiders team. This time, the two teams kept each other relatively in check as Midway squeezed out the win, 3-2.

Both teams went scoreless in inning number one, but the action heated up in the second.

Triton gained a pair of base runners by way of base-on-balls before a base hit notched one of the runners for a score. The Hawks were poised to tally another run but a well-timed double play by the Raiders shut down the opportunity as Triton claimed the 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second inning, it wasn’t stellar hitting that saw Midway rally past Triton; rather it was capitalizing on miscues. Taking advantage of drawing walks and the Hawks committing some errors, the Raiders plated Sawyer Sutton and Jaron Register to a pair of runs for the 2-1 lead.

Innings three, four and five all passed by fairly quietly as neither team found much success in terms of offense. Both teams stood tall both on the mound and on defense as strikeouts and pick-offs became the name of the game.

Calamity ensued in the top of the sixth inning as the Raiders found themselves victims of a pair of dropped balls in the outfield in the vicinity of right-center field. The Hawks placed a couple hits that way that dropped into no-man’s land between the infielders and the outfielders. One of the drops still yielded an out as the runner at first was caught in a force at second, but the second dropped ball proved costly. Triton had a man on second who was rolling with two outs at the crack of the bat. By the time the ball dropped, the runner had crossed home plate for the tying run. Midway finally got out of the inning, but the Hawks were back in contention with a 2-2 tie.

The Raiders, though, quickly had an answer.

Cameron Calcutt drew a walk to get Midway started, and later took a second on a passed ball behind the catcher. Two batters later, Register hit a deep line-drive into center that allowed Calcutt to score, putting Midway back on top 3-2.

Triton got out of the inning with no more damage done but the Hawks couldn’t answer in the top of the seventh as Midway held on for the 3-2 win.

On the game, the Raiders had a cool night at the plate as they only tallied three hits. Chandler Williford, Cameron Barefoot, and Sutton accounted for those hits. Register’s RBI was also the only one of the game, and it couldn’t have been bigger.

On the mound, Sutton earned the win, going five innings and recording six strikeouts. The sophomore allowed just one run on two hits and three walks. Cal Tyndall saw an inning of action, allowing one run on two hits, no walks, and one strikeout. Eli Culbreth earned the save, coming on to close the game in the top of the seventh. He had one strikeout and no hits, no walks, and no runs.

With the win, Midway improves to 6-0 on the season and was right back in action on Tuesday at Clinton. They are scheduled to hit the road on Friday at East Duplin.

Midway’s Cal Tyndall take a swing during Monday night’s contest against Triton.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_MHS-Cal-Tyndall.jpgMidway’s Cal Tyndall take a swing during Monday night’s contest against Triton. Daron Barefoot | Sampson Independent

Midway’s Sawyer Sutton stares down home plate as he unleashes a pitch during Monday night’s contest against Triton.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_MHS-Sawyer-Sutton.jpgMidway’s Sawyer Sutton stares down home plate as he unleashes a pitch during Monday night’s contest against Triton. Daron Barefoot | Sampson Independent
Raiders stays perfect with 3-2 win

By Daron Barefoot

Sports Editor

Reach Sports Editor Daron Barefoot at [email protected]