Panthers earn back-to-back victories over Horses
After starting the season on a high note of 4-0, this past week proved to be challenging for the Dark Horses baseball team. This week saw Clinton conclude matchups with their Duplin County foes as East Duplin was the next team on the slate. Unfortunatly for the Dark Horses, the Panthers put a halt to their early win streak in back-to-back wins of 3-0 and 18-4.
In their matchup on Tuesday, one bad inning was the ultimate undoing in Clinton’s first loss of the season. Every inning was plastered with 0’s on the box score – every inning excpet the bottom of the third, where East Duplin plated three runs. The Dark Horses were held hitless but the Panther’s didn’t fair much better with just two. Still, that was enough to earn them the 3-0 win.
On Thursday, the game was the same outcome but was done so it an entirely different fashion. Each team got on the board in the first inning with a pair of runs apiece. The second inning went by with not much happening but the Panther’s got hot in the top of the third, exploding for seven runs to take a commanding 9-2 lead. Jump ahead to the fifth inning they got hot again, going for nine more runs to make it 18-2 in the top of the fifth. In the face of adversity, Clinton got two runs back but was unable to overcome the 10-run mercy rule and the game was called in the bottom of the fifth with East Duplin winning 18-4.
The Panthers compiled 11 hits with everyone but three players getting into the hit column. For Clinton, they had eight hits. Payson King had a team high three hits with Alex Evans right behind with two hits. Dawson Smith, Jeffrey Arnette, and Adam Daw all had one hit apiece.
With the losses, the Dark Horses settle at 4-2 on the season. They have three games next week, first off on the road at Midway on Monday, followed by a home game against Goldsboro on Tuesday and then on the road at Goldsboro on Friday.
Reach Sports Editor Daron Barefoot at [email protected].