Midway remains the kings and queens of the diamond as they hold the top position in both baseball and softball. Hobbton and Union vie to climb higher as the season comes to a close.

Clinton

Baseball (9-5)

Though the Dark Horses have a respectable regular season record, they are struggling in conference play, netting only one win and four losses and are in last place.

In their past five contests in league play, they have managed to attain 15 runs but have given up 30 in return, with over half of those runs coming against the Midway Raiders. Looking ahead they will face Red Springs one more time and a pair of games against the St. Pauls Bulldogs. The Red Devils eeked by the Dark Horses in their last encounter, sneaking by with the win 6-5.

Clinton will be looking to even the score against Red Springs and will shore up their defenses to take on the Bulldogs as they aim to climb out of last place in the SAC-6.

Softball (5-10)

The Lady Horses are hovering above last place with the Lady Devils just one win away from tying it up. This week, Clinton will be looking to separate themselves from the bottom and climb higher in pursuit of a better spot in the SAC-6 standings.

Their next two games will be against the St. Pauls Bulldogs who are in second place in the conference behind the powerhouse Lady Raiders. Clinton has a youthful team who is looking to spoil St. Pauls clean record in the SAC-6, and will be leaning on their freshman pitcher, Alivia Capps to slow down the Bulldogs hot bats this season as they have brought home 177 runs in 17 contests this season.

Harrells

Baseball (8-6)

Harrells has had an up and down season, alternating between wins and losses. Last week, they capped off their play with back to back wins, including a game against the Kerr-Vance Trojans where they survived and snatched the win, 6-4 in extra innings.

That win, propelled them into second place in the NCISAA Carolina Independent conference with a 4-2 record. This week they will face off against Wilmington Christian and league rivals the Faith Christian Eagles, who had handed them a loss earlier this month, 9-5.

The Crusaders are not out of the woods yet as the Trojans are on their heels, just one game away from tying with them in the standings. Harrells will be aiming to gain some distance to solidify their spot and perhaps overtake the conference leaders, the Rocky Mount Eagles.

Softball (5-9)

The Lady Crusaders are close to overtaking the Vikings of Halifax Academy who are just a win ahead of them.

The small conference only has four teams who’ve competed in league play, opening the doors for Harrells to climb up with the few games they have left this season. This week they will face the Wilmington Christian Patriots and the No. 2 Faith Christian Eagles. Two weeks prior, the shocked the Eagles and took the win from them in 9-8 victory, stretching the contest out to 10 innings.

The Lady Crusaders will be looking to do that again this week when they face Faith Christian again this coming Thursday.

Hobbton

Baseball (10-7)

The Wildcats have three games left in the regular season and are playing them all this week.

They will have faced the East Bladen Eagles on Monday and turn right around to face the Union Spartans, who have yet to snag a win this season. They will cap off the week against the North Duplin Rebels, the No. 2 team in the Carolina 1A. Their last encounter with Union was a blowout win, toppling the Spartans 12-0. Against the Rebels, it was a different story as they blew the lead late in the game and North Duplin took the win, 6-5.

Hobbton will be looking for another win against Union and avenge their last game against North Duplin on Thursday.

Softball (2-12)

Hobbton will be looking to pad their record as they have only three games left in the season.

The Lady Wildcats have struggled this season, with their two wins coming against the Lakewood Leopards. Throughout the season, Hobbton has been on the receiving end of some heavy losses with only two games coming within a pair of scores against Union (2-0) and Wallace-Rose Hill (3-2). This week they will face the No. 2 and No. 3 in conference after their non-conference game against the East Bladen.

They will take on the Union Spartans on Tuesday and the North Duplin Rebels on Thursday.

Lakewood

Baseball (5-11)

The Leopards have struggled this season to get wins and are currently riding back to back losses to close out last week.

Upcoming they have two games left in conference play as they take on the Neuse Charter Cougars and the No. 1 Rosewood Eagles. The Leopards are looking to close out the season on a high note as they face the Cougars in their makeup game from the rained out contest two weeks prior. In their last contest against the Eagles ended early as Lakewood fell, 15-0.

Softball (1-14)

Lakewood has had a rough go of it in the ‘23 season, dropping eight straight.

The Lady Leopards close out the year facing the No. 1 Rosewood Eagles who had dropped them 15-0 in an early game. This is Lakewood’s last home game of year and also their senior night, so they will be looking to show out for their community before closing out the regular season.

Midway

Baseball (13-5)

Midway has be dominant on the diamond this season dropping only five games this season with one of those being a conference game.

The Raiders are looking to finish strong as their season is coming to a close with only four games left. This week they have a pair of contests against the Red Springs Devils. The Devils are just one game shy of .500 at 8-9 and are facing a heavy handed juggernaut as Midway has put up 138 runs and Red Springs has allowed ten more runs than the Raiders at 85.

On paper, this appears to be a win for Midway but Red Springs has enough firepower to shock the No. 1 and the Raiders will not be sleeping on these pair of games this week.

Softball (12-2)

The Lady Raiders have a stuffed week as they take on conference foes, the Red Springs Red Devils twice and the Harnett Central Trojans in between those games.

Midway has been almost untouchable this season as they have stampeded through the SAC-6, toppling their conference allowing only 15 runs while amassing 107. In their last seven league games, they’ve shutout the opposition three times while allowing five or fewer runs. The Red Devils are on deck and are aiming to derail the Raiders but it’s not looking good for them.

Midway currently resides at the No. 1 spot in the SAC-6 with a 7-0 record and are riding an eight game win streak going into the week.

Union

Baseball (0-11)

The Spartans are looking at the end of their season and have yet to notch a win, taking the long losing streak further.

With three games left in the regular season, Union has one more chance to snatch a win before the season closes out. This week they will have faced off against the Pender Patriots on Monday then to cap off the week they face the No. 3 Hobbton Wildcats and finally the Neuse Charter Cougars.

Softball (7-5)

Union is looking to finish out the season with a bang, following their devestating loss last week to North Duplin.

They only have two games left in the regular season and are looking to win out, following back to back losses to the No. 1 and 2 teams in the Carolina 1A. They will have played Pender on Monday and have the Hobbton Wildcats to cap off the year on Tuesday. Their last encounter with Hobbton was a close one where they scored just enough to get past them, winning by a pair and earning the shutout, 2-0.

Reach Anthony McConnaughey at amcconnaughey@www.clintonnc.com, X @SampsonSports or on the Sampson Independent Facebook page