There was more on the line on the baseball diamond at Hoggard High School and the softball field at Laney’s home field at Trask Middle School than the Mideastern 3A/4A Conference tournament titles–seeding position in the upcoming North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) state playoffs, and the visiting teams in both cases took home what they came for.
Dan Beasley knocked in two runs in the top of the fifth inning to help the Vikings overcome a 1-0 deficit, and Connor Simpson and Connor Church knocked in insurance runs in the seventh inning as Hoggard upset regular-season champion New Hanover 4-1 to claim the tournament title, and the No. 2 seed in the tournament behind the Wildcats.
A short drive up College Road at Trask Middle School, Rachel Swartwood knocked in pinch-runner Jordan Harvey with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Ashley a 4-3 win over Laney and the conference’s No. 1 seed in the state tournament.
Baseball
New Hanover (16-6) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Corey Everett reached base on an error, Lambert Long sacrificed him to second, Ward Coleman walked with one out, and–with two outs–Adam Pecoraro knocked him in with a single.
That appeared to be all Wildcat starting pitcher Tyree Johnson would need as he was mowing down the Hoggard batters with regularity, recording strikeouts on seven of the 12 outs he recorded over four innings of work.
But New Hanover Coach Richard Foy opted to take Johnson out in the top of the fifth inning.
“Tyree was on a pitch count and we didn’t feel like we could stretch him out today and have him fresh for Tuesday,” said New Hanover Coach Richard Foy. “He essentially threw his midweek bullpen session and that would have been around 50 or 60 pitches. He did a great job, he threw 62 pitches.”
Josh Rogers started off by walking the first hitter he saw, Hoggard’s Dane Schretter. Patrick Hargrove following with a single and Brad Pennington laid down an excellent sacrifice bunt to put Viking runners on second and third. Connor Simpson walked to load the bases and Beasley stroked the first pitch he saw to deep left-center field to plate Schretter and Hargrove, giving the Vikings a 2-1 lead.
“I just went up there looking for a fastball and that’s what he gave me, right down the middle,” Beasley said. “This was huge for us because now in the playoffs we get to stay here in the playoffs rather than go on the road. Now Ashley had to go on the road, it’s definitely better for us.”
Tamson came on in relief of Julian Blackburn to preserve the lead. The senior lefty threw 42 pitches over three innings–28 for strikes–walked one batter, struck out two, and gave up no hits and no runs.
“My job is to go in and throw strikes and trust the defense,” Tamson said. “I was a little nervous, I’m not going to lie, but I knew I had a good defense behind me. I just threw strikes and pitched to contact.
“You always have a case of nerves coming in like that in those situations but I knew I had a really good defense behind me. The book on them is stay away, stay away, nothing down the middle. My changeup was really good today.”
Hoggard tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the seventh to give Tamson some breathing room. Pennington got it started by reaching base on an error and Simpson doubled him home. Courtesy runner Justin Blackmon advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored the fourth run on a groundout by Connor Church.
Tamson walked Pecoraro to start the bottom of the seventh but he was erased on a fielders’ choice at second. The next Wildcat hitter grounded back to Tamson and he ignited a 1-6-3 double play to end the game.
“I got a little nervous, I didn’t want to throw a bullet because he (shortstop Pennington) wasn’t there yet,” Tamson said “I kind of made a soft throw and he made a good play and picked it up.”
Hoggard Coach Jeep St. Ledger addressed the removal of Johnson and talked about the importance of the game, and how well he thought his team, and his pitchers, did.
“To me they had to be thinking they had the playoffs starting on Tuesday,” St. Ledger said. “We had him 60-some pitches by then and I don’t know how far he was scheduled to go. He’s just one of those kids you have to battle against and hopefully scratch one across. When they took him out Beasley came up with the bases loaded and delivered.
“Winning tonight is huge for us–you get to stay home. Once you get to the playoffs you’re going to be playing good teams and it’s a lot easier playing home than it is going three hours on an activity bus.”
Hoggard had a runner on first in the top of the inning when Julius Reynolds hit a ball headed into the gap in left-center but Wildcat leftfielder Garrett Walston made a great diving catch.
The umpire gave the safe sign on the play but eventually reversed his call.
Then in the bottom of the frame Walston doubled for New Hanover, eventually moving to third. Walston attempted to score on a wild pitch but he was called out on a throw from Hoggard catcher Simpson to pitcher Blackburn.
Foy said the play was big but that was not why his squad lost.
“I thought my guy was safe at the plate but obviously he was closer,” Foy said. “He said he had great angle and he felt he got the call right. But offensively we weren’t very good.
“We gave up four runs. If you had told me coming in we were going to give up four runs I would have liked our chances. The play at the plate was big at the time but the bottom line is if we had done what we are capable of doing offensively that play would have been insignificant.
“I told them after the game I thought the effort on defensive and the pitching, outside of a couple of walks, was there and I was satisfied. Offensively, while we did hit a couple of balls hard they were caught, but I didn’t think we had a good approach right from the start.
Hoggard 000 020 2=4-5-1
NHHS 100 000 0=1-3-2
WP: Austin Tamson; LP: Josh Rogers; 2B: Connor Simpson (H), Dan Beasley (H), Garrett Walston (NH).
Leading Hitters: (H) – Julius Reynolds 2-for-3; Dan Beasley 1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBIs. (NH) – Lambert Long 1-for-2, Sac; Adam Pecoraro 1-for-2, W, RBI; Garrett Walston 1-for-2, 2B.
Softball
Ashley (15-9) fell behind 1-0 when Laney (16-5) scored a run in the bottom of the second on an RBI by Savannah Watkins that scored Selby Cook.
But the Lady Screaming Eagles came back with three runs in the third. Taylor Carter reached base on an error, Schae Dickson singled, and Bailey Williams doubled to score Carter and Dickson.
Williams was out a third but Jessica Stergakos reached base on an error and scored the third run on a base hit by Aliza Hollemon.
Laney scored an unearned run in the third and tied the game in the fourth. The game stayed that way until the top of the eighth when Swartwood knocked in the game winner.
“That’s the way we play. We’re real generous early in the game but we kept fighting and working and came back,” Ashley Coach Chip Adams said. “In the eighth we felt comfortable taking Jessica out for a pinch runner because we knew we could reinsert her and we wanted the extra speed on the bases, and Rachel came through for us again.
“She has been a real pleasant surprise lately. She’s come through in some big situations and we’re real pleased with what she’s doing.”
Laney and Ashley came in as co-regular season champions so the game gives the Lady Screaming Eagles the top seed in the NCHSAA 4A playoffs.
“It’s nice to be able to stay home,” Adams said. “At this point in time everyone you play is going to be good so it’s great to have the opportunity to play at home.”
Ashley 003 000 01=4-7-3
Laney 011 100 00=3-5-4
WP: Robyn Kerr; LP: Shelby Cook; 2B: Bailey Williams (A).
