TAR HEEL – Elizabethtown built leads of 8-0, 10-5 and 13-6 en route to a 13-10 Waccamaw Middle School Conference baseball victory over Tar Heel Tuesday.
Chace Butler and Isaiah Lee drew walks, and Colton Daly reached base on catcher’s interference in the Cougar 1st inning and all 3 of them came around to score on passed balls.
The Cougars tacked on 5 more runs in the 2nd inning. J. D. McArthur, Adonis Smith and Butler drew walks, and Daly and Lee laced singles. McArthur raced home on a passed ball, Daly’s hit scored Smith and Butler. Daly dashed home on a wild pitch, and Lee scored on an error for an 8-0 lead.
Tar Heel rallied with 2 runs in the 2nd inning. Kasey Nichols ripped a double, Ahmarie White walked, and Dawson Edwards smacked a single that scored both runners and closed the gap to 8-2.
Nichols reached base on an error in the Panther 3rd inning, and White walked. Nolan Sessoms belted a single, and Johnathan Ortiz reached base on an error. Nichols, White and Sessoms all scored to trim the Cougar lead to 8-5.
C. J. McCracken walloped a double to begin the Elizabethtown 4th inning and scored as Braylon Cromartie reached base on an error. Cromartie later scored to up the count to 10-5.
Nichols led off the Tar Heel 5th with a single, and Sessoms drove him in with a single to trim the lead to 10-6.
Lee and Cromartie cracked 2-out singles in the Cougar 6th inning, and Aiden Williams hammered a triple that scored both runners. Williams later scored to push the lead to 13-6.
Tar Heel answered with 4 runs in their last at-bat. Mason Jones started the rally with a single, and Seth Faircloth walked. Caison Brixey and Nichols reached base on errors as Jones and Faircloth scored. Sessoms smashed a single that scored Brixey and Nichols, but Cromartie rallied on the mound for Elizabethtown and ended the game with 2 strike-outs and a ground out with the bases loaded.
McCracken pitched the 1st 3 innings for the Cougars and allowed 5 runs on 3 walks and 4 hits while striking out seven. Cromartie pitched the final 3 innings and allowed 5 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out six.
Lee batted 2-for-3 and scored 3 runs to lead the Elizabethtown hitters. Williams slugged the 2-run triple, and McCracken drilled the double. Daly singled home 2 runs and scored twice, and Butler scored 2 runs.
Sessoms batted 3-for-4, drove in 3 runs and scored one to lead the Panther hitters. Nichols finished 2-for-4 at the plate and scored 4 runs. Jones batted 2-for-5 and scored a run. White walked 3 times and scored 2 runs, and Edwards delivered the 2-run single.
Coach Larry Williams’ Cougars improved to 2-0 and will host Whiteville Central Thursday at 4 p.m. Tar Heel, now 0-2, will host West Columbus Thursday.
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