Raiders fall short of championship run

After the Raider baseball team, which held the No.13 seed in this year’s playoffs, made a miraculous run, dismantling the No. 4 and 5 seeds in Ayden-Grifton and East Carteret before hosting No. 16 Southwest Edgecombe in the fourth round, Midway faced the No. 6-seed South Lenoir Blue Devils in a best-of-three series for the eastern regional finals. After a decisive game one in Deep Run, Midway hosted game two last Thursday, which resulted in the Raiders erasing a seven-run deficit to head to extra innings, where South Lenoir squeaked out the win to tie it at 1-1. The deciding game was held back at South Lenoir on Saturday, and after a tumultuous affair, it was a controversial call on the base path that ended Midway’s season just one run short of a state championship appearance in a crushing 5-4 loss.

Being the underdogs is something the Raiders were used to throughout the playoffs, hosting just three games throughout the five rounds of postseason baseball action. As such, the deciding game went to Deep Run for the home field advantage for the Blue Devils, which they took advantage of, but the game didn’t end before a back-and-forth affair from both teams, who proved they both belonged deep in the postseason.

As the away team, Midway was up to bat first in the top of the first. Tanner Williams, Carson Tew and Wyatt Herring were sent down in order, all from pop flies that were caught. Williams popped his up to the shortstop on the first pitch, Tew took his to center field on his first pitch and Herring flew out to the catcher behind the plate in foul territory, and just like that, the Blue Devils’ pitcher tossed five pitches and recorded three outs to start the loser-go-home game.

Showing that the Raiders belonged in this game, Cameron Register kicked off the bottom of the first on the mound by keeping South Lenoir at bay quickly. His first pitch looked like it could spell early trouble, with a line drive being hit to Herring in left, but a fly out to Williams in center kept the runner on first, who was caught stealing second during the next at-bat, when Luke Peterson rifled it from behind the plate to Camden Wilson, who covered the bag from short. The third batter grounded out to Wilson Mayo at first for the unassisted third out.

Moving to the top of the second, Midway’s bats came alive, as they had all season. Hits weren’t the problem in many of the Raiders’ games, but leaving runners stranded on base was. Raider faithful saw a change in this early in Saturday’s game, with two runs coming across the plate early. Wyatt Scott flew out on the first pitch of the second inning, and Wesley Tew flew out to the hard-working center fielder on the second pitch of his at-bat, giving Midway two outs early. Harry Johnson was struck by a pitch on a full count and was driven home by a triple by Peterson on the very next pitch. After Mayo was walked to put runners on first and third, a double by Wilson scored Jacob Holland, the courtesy runner for Peterson, making it a 2-0 lead on the back of a two-out rally, which was something Midway had grown used to.

The opposing force to Midway’s offense proved successful in the bottom of the second, with South Lenoir ripping back-to-back singles to start the frame. The second of the two batters was thrown out while retreating to first after a quick throw-in by Wesley Tew from right field, but the lead runner found his way to third. A grounder to Wilson at shortstop gave the Blue Devils a run on a fielder’s choice or sacrifice hit — whichever lens it was viewed through. This made it a 2-1 game with one out. A pop-up from South Lenoir ended the inning with that score just a couple of pitches later.

Carson Tew lined out to the Blue Devils’ center fielder once more, keeping the outfielder on his toes over the series. Herring changed course in his AB, this time sending a line drive to left field and making it all the way to second on the play, poised to add to the visitor’s scoreboard. But, as was the case many times throughout the Raiders’ long season, he was left stranded, as Scott grounded out and Wesley Tew flew out.

With the slim lead going into the bottom of the third, things started to unravel for Midway. A three-pitch strikeout for the lead-off Blue Devil looked like the Raiders were going to stay in control. An error on behalf of Scott at third base put a runner on first, but he was picked off at first after grabbing a big lead. Register walked a pair and hit another with a pitch, which loaded the bases with two outs. A double scored all three of the base runners for the 4-2 advantage, and a single sent that runner home for the 5-2 lead. Another double came next, but a ground out ended the scoring party before things got too far out of hand for Midway and the Raiders couldn’t recoup.

As the fourth inning started, Johnson was plunked by another pitch to put himself aboard. As he was the pitcher at this point, Harrison Honeycutt was substituted in as his courtesy runner. Peterson lined out to center fielder, keeping Honeycutt on first with one away. Mayo doubled to put two runners in scoring position, with Midway staring down a triumphant comeback once more. That didn’t formulate in the fourth, though, as Wilson was out on a caught foul tip and Williams grounded out to short. The score remained with South Lenoir leading Midway, and two more Raiders left in scoring position.

The Blue Devils went three-up, three-down for their half of the fourth, with the Raiders poised to continue the rally. With Johnson on the mound, he popped up the first batter, had the second ground out, and the third flew out once again.

With their backs on the ropes, the Raiders looked like they were going to cut into the lead in the top of the fifth. Carson Tew sent a line drive to left to put himself on the bags, and Herring was hit by a pitch to put two on with no outs. Those chances crumbled quickly, however, with Scott flying out to right and Wesley Tew hitting into a 6-3 double play to get himself and Herring out at first and second.

South Lenoir’s offense had gone stagnant at this point, grabbing the occasional base runner via walk or hit, but nothing formulation in the run column for the hosts since the two-out rally in the bottom of the third to give them their lead. The bottom of the fifth saw this same pattern, with the lead batter grounding out to Wilson at shortstop and the second batter singling on a grounder to center. A fly out and strikeout ended the Devils’ hopes of extending their lead.

With just six outs left, Midway needed run support quickly to start the top of the sixth inning. Johnson popped out to second, but Peterson sent a line drive to right field to add a base runner. South Lenoir’s quick defense robbed the Raiders, though, as Mayo hit into another double play to keep the Devils ahead. 1-2-3 the hosts went in the bottom of the inning, setting the stage for some very late game drama once more.

Wilson was the lead-off batter for Midway to start the seventh inning, and he was awarded first after being hit by a pitch. After Williams doubled, the Raiders had two on with no outs. A sacrificed fly from Carson Tew scored Wilson and advanced Williams, and a follow-up single by Herring scored Williams to close the gap to 5-4 with South Lenoir still in the lead, as momentum had swung entirely in Midway’s favor at this point. Scott added a single of his, putting him at first and Herring at second with one out. Herring made it to third on a fielder’s choice which saw Scott thrown out at second and Wesley Tew — the runner to take the lead — on first. As Tew took off for second and slid into the bag, the second-base umpire called him out for offensive interference for having his hand up on the slide, giving the Raiders their third out and ending the comeback chance, falling 5-4 to South Lenoir in a heartbreaking, controversial call from the umpire crew.

Register threw for 2 ^2/3 innings, giving up five runs on four hits, walking two and striking out one. Johnson was the clean-up pitcher, throwing 3 ^1/3 and giving up no runs and no walks on three hits and two KOs. In the batter’s box, both Peterson and Herring each had a pair of hits, and an RBI. Williams, Carson Tew, Scott, Mayo and Wilson all had a hit each, while Tew and Wilson were the only other Raiders with an RBI. Midway combined for nine hits, four runs, one walk and just one strikeout, while keeping the Blue Devils to five runs on just seven hits, two walks, and three strikeouts.

With the loss, Midway moved to 23-9 in its impressive season. This also concluded the sports seasons for the 2024-25 school year for Sampson County high schools.