Hobbton’s Nick Mailhot scores a run during Tuesday’s matchup at Lakewood.
Daron Barefoot|Sampson Independent
Wildcats survive against Leopards in heated rivalry, 2-1
Lakewood’s Tyler Fye fields a ground ball at shortstop and makes the throw to first.
Daron Barefoot|Sampson Independent
County rivals Lakewood and Hobbton squared off on the baseball field on Tuesday night – their first meeting of the season. This contest was a low-scoring showdown, filled with opportunities for both squads, but at the end of the night, it was Hobbton that held on for the victory, winning 2-1.
The Wildcats plated their first run of the game in the first inning after Nick Mailhot got aboard and was later scored on a passed ball. With the Leopards unable to get anything going in the bottom of the first, Hobbton staked a 1-0 lead after the first inning.
The Wildcats got an insurance run in the second inning…the run that would eventually prove to be the game winner. This run was scored courtesy of Garrett Britt, who got on base by way of an error. With this run tallied up, the Wildcats led 2-0.
Throughout the game, both teams left a smattering of baserunners stranded, some of which in scoring position if they could just muster up a hit or a passed ball. For Lakewood, this was especially haunting as the Leopards frequently had runners at second or third. The first instance of this came in the bottom of the second inning when Lakewood couldn’t convert the tying run standing on second base. All the way through until the fifth inning, Hobbton maintained their 2-0 lead.
The Leopards finally achieved a breakthrough in the bottom of the fifth. Garrison Harter recorded Lakewood’s only hit of the game and would eventually make it over to third base. A passed ball resulted in an extremely close play at the plate, but Harter was ruled safe, making it 2-1 with more runners now in scoring position. Like clockwork, though, those runners were stranded and Hobbton continued to lead.
Squandered opportunities continued to be the theme of the night for the Leopards as another pair of runners were left aboard in the bottom of the seventh as consecutive strikeouts ended the game, cementing the Wildcats’ 2-1 victory.
Cole Weeks was credited with Hobbton’s only hit of the game and Harter for Lakewood. Walks and errors contributed to most of the offense with the Wildcats drawing six walks and benefitting from two errors while the Leopards drew 10 walks and one error. Speaking of stranded runners, Hobbton stranded 13 baserunners compared to 10 for Lakewood.
Garrett Britt got the win on the mound for the Wildcats, going 4.2 innings. He struck out 11 batters, walked eight, and gave up one run and one hit. Will Blackman pitched one winning, getting two strikeouts and two walks against five batters. Bennett Darden closed things out, pitching 1.1 innings and getting three strikeouts.
Kollin Hunter started on the mound for the Leopards, going five innings. He tallied six hits, five walks, no hits, and two runs. Landon Neal pitched the final two innings, getting five strikeouts against one walk and one hit.
Hobbton also picked up a win on Thursday night against Union, which puts them at 8-3 overall and 3-1 in Carolina 1A Conference action.
Reach Anthony McConnaughey at [email protected] or on Twitter @SampsonSports