HobbsDailyReport.com
ALWAYS A TOP DOG
With Lake Norman Charter handing Bandys its first loss of the baseball season on Friday, the deepest run to open a season without a loss in the Greater Hickory area again belongs to South Caldwell.
After beating Freedom on Friday in Hudson, the Spartans are 10-0 and the only unbeaten team in the South Fork 2A, Northwestern Foothills 2A or Northwestern 3A-4A.
The Spartans have either played the longest without a loss – or shared that distinction in the area – in 13 of 21 seasons dating back to 1997:
Year Start
1998 8-0 (a)
1999 4-0 (b)
2000 6-0
2002 11-0
2003 13-0
2006 19-0
2007 16-0
2008 6-0
2012 12-0
2015 26-0
2016 12-0
2017 8-0
2018 10-0
a—Crest also started 8-0; b—Hickory, Freedom and S. Iredell also started 4-0.
SOURCE: HobbsDailyReport.com research and files.
Lake Norman Charter High brought an end to Bandys’ hot baseball start on Friday, rallying to tie the Trojans through five innings and then adding four runs in the sixth inning to beat them 8-5.
The Knights, playing an afternoon game at home, had eight hits and overcame four errors in a win that knocked Bandys out of first place in the South Fork 2A.
North Lincoln, beating Lincolnton 7-1 on Friday, is 6-0 in the league and atop the standings. Bandys dropped to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the conference heading into a home game Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against North Lincoln.
The Trojans were off to their best start since winning their first 13 games to start the 2005 season.
Lake Norman Charter (7-2, 5-1) has won four straight games and shares second place with Bandys. The Knights go to West Lincoln on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. league game.
On Friday afternoon, Bandys grabbed a 3-0 early lead when Andrew Patrick hit a three-run home run in the top of the first inning.
Two walks by Trojans starter T.J. Rasar led to a run-scoring single by Landon Calton and an RBI on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the first inning to get the Knights within 3-2.
Bandys added a third-inning run to lead 4-2 before Lake Norman Charter got a run back when Michael Ashford doubled and scored on an error by third baseman Elijah Carr.
A double by the Knights’ Ryan Morrow and RBI hit by Logan Ansted in the fifth inning tied it at 4-all.
Lake Norman Charter scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth, leading 8-4, and Bandys got a run back in the top of the seventh inning and had the bases loaded with one out but didn’t score again.
Eric Borcich got a pitching win for the Knights, going 1 1/3 innings. He gave up four hits and one run (earned).
Alex Borst took the loss for Bandys after pitching one-third of an inning, allowing two hits and giving up three runs (all earned).
South Caldwell 13, Freedom 1, 5 inn.
The Spartans limited the visiting Patriots to three hits and got two RBIs each from Jackson Brown, Owen Foxx and Tyler Wike to remain unbeaten.
South Caldwell (10-0, 6-0) is alone in first place in the Northwestern 3A-4A, a half-game up on Alexander Central and two up on third-place Freedom (7-3, 4-2).
Brown went 2-for-3 and Wike was 2-for-2 for the Spartans, who broke a 1-all tie with seven runs in the third inning and then added five more the next inning.
South Caldwell had seven hits.
Clay Canale was the winning pitcher after throwing four innings. He gave up three hits, walked two and struck out four.
Lyle Hollard, Hunter Smith and Dylan Shelton each had a hit for the Patriots. Hollard took the loss, going two innings. He gave up three hits, five runs (all earned), walked four and struck out one.
South Caldwell meets Hickory on Monday at 6:30 p.m. in Hudson in a conference game while Freedom plays Monday at 6 p.m. at West Caldwell, also a league game.
Alexander Central 5, McDowell 0
Zack Hammer went six innings, issuing a walk and striking out 17, as Alexander Central won a Northwestern 3A-4A game in Taylorsville.
The Cougars (9-1, 5-1) collected nine hits, two each by Josh Lafone and Daniel Dessecker. Lafone drove in three runs and leadoff hitter Byron Younts drove in two.
The only hit for McDowell (5-7, 3-4) was by Kell Smith.
Alexander Central scored three runs in the third inning and its other two in the fourth inning.
Nate Moretz pitched the final inning for the Cougars, striking out one and allowing Smith’s hit.
McDowell starter Juan Campos took the loss. He went 3 2/3 innings and allowed eight hits, five runs (all earned), walking one and striking out three.
The Cougars’ next game is Monday at home, a league matchup with St. Stephens at 6:30 p.m., and Alexander Central is a half-game behind first-place South Caldwell after winning seven straight games.
The Titans are on the road Monday for a 6:30 p.m. conference game at Watauga.
Hickory 3, West Caldwell 2
Jacob Fuller pitched six solid innings and reliever Garret Heckler gained a save for Hickory when he struck out two batters with the tying run at third base in a Northwestern 3A-4A game at Hickory.
The Red Tornadoes improved to 6-4 overall and evened their league record at 3-3. They are in fourth place and one game out of third place.
Cy Smith gave up two hits and struck out seven for West Caldwell (1-8, 0-6), which has lost seven straight since beating Hibriten in the second game of the season.
Hickory plays at league-leading South Caldwell on Monday at 6:30 p.m. while West Caldwell will be at home the same night for a 6 p.m. conference game against Freedom.
Watauga 4, St. Stephens 0
The visiting Pioneers scored all of their runs in the fourth inning to nip the Indians in a Northwestern 3A-4A game.
Each team had five hits, with J.D. Everett going 2-for-3 for St. Stephens (3-4, 2-4) and Jackson Greene going 2-for-4 for Watauga (3-5, 2-4).
Jonathan McClannon threw a complete game for the Pioneers, walking three and striking out five, and Everett took the loss after going 5 2/3 innings (four hits, four runs, six walks, five strikeouts).
Greene’s run-scoring single in the top of the sixth came with one out. After he stole second and third, he scored on a wild pitch. After Travis Hammrick walked and Andrew Dye was hit by a pitch, Tanner Crafter delivered a two-run single.
Watauga next plays on Monday at 6:30, facing McDowell in a league game in Boone.
St. Stephens will play at Alexander Central, also on Monday at 6:30 p.m., in a conference game.
Maiden 8, Newton-Conover 7
Maiden won its first game of the season and its first in the South Fork 2A with a walk-off, run-scoring single by Chantz London.
The Blue Devils (1-7, 1-5) left the Red Devils (0-8, 0-6) in last place in the conference.
Newton-Conover led 7-6 after scoring two runs in the sixth inning, one each on RBI singles by Brendan Barlow and Holt Allison, and the Red Devils had a 5-2 lead in the top of the fifth inning.
Maiden snapped an nine-game losing streak that dated back to losing the final two games of last season.
The Red Devils have lost nine straight, also dating back to last season.
Maiden goes to Lincolnton on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. league game, and Newton-Conover will be at home for a 7 p.m. conference game against East Lincoln.
Fred T. Foard 7, Hibriten 5 (Thursday)
Hayden Lail’s grand slam helped the Tigers win on the road at take over first place in the Northwestern Foothills 2A.
Jeremiah Wike had three hits for Foard and his RBI double in the first inning put the Tigers up 1-0.
A two-run double by Luke Absher in the third inning gave Hibriten a 2-1 lead before Foard tied it on a bases-loaded walk to Tanner Martin, followed by a grand slam to right-centerfield by Lail (two hits, four RBIs).
Foard led 7-2 after scoring a run in the top of the seventh inning.
Hibriten scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and had the tying run at second base with one out, facing reliever Caleb Peschel.
Peschel, replacing Austin Houser, got a strikeout and a hard liner to second base for the final out.
Foard had an open date on Friday and plays a league game at Draughn on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Lake Norman Charter 3, Lincolnton 1, 10 inn. (Thursday)
Max Doherty singled on an 0-2 count in the 10th inning, driving in the winning run for Lake Norman Charter in a South Fork 2A game on the road.
Logan Ansted pitched for the Knights, allowing four hits and one run over six innings with six strikeouts. Alex Lonergan and Eric Borcich followed Ansted.