The top four hitters in the Topsail lineup combined for 7-for-15 at the plate with two home runs and six RBIs en route to an 11-1 victory against West Brunswick in Shallotte on Friday night.
Bryce Cota scattered three hits over 4.2 innings, with six strikeouts and one earned run to get the win, while Jonathan Carlyle was saddled with the loss after four-plus innings of work for the Trojans.
“We’re starting to hit the ball a lot better,” said Topsail Coach Granville Gehris. “I think we were frustrated a couple of games ago, but I think we’ve got our frustrations out and starting to hit the ball where it’s pitched and not trying to pull pitches on the outer half. It keeps everything simple.”
Topsail struck in its first at-bat when Sam Luchansky hit a first-pitch single to left and scored on a two-run shot off the bat of Clark Cota to give the Pirates an early 2-0 lead.
“When you’re able to get runs early it gives the rest of the lineup a lot of confidence,” said Gehris. “Clark’s homer was an inflator and built everybody up. We know West Brunswick is a talented, well-coached team and if we played them 100 times, maybe two or three games would have a score like tonight.”
Five of the first six outs recorded by Bryce Cota were via the strikeout as the southpaw used three straight breaking balls on two-strike counts in the second inning to fan the side after allowing a leadoff single to Zack Johnson.
Johnson went 2-for-3 for the Trojans and had his team’s only hits before Tristan Lewis singled with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
With Topsail in front by two, Danny Wilson and Luchansky led off the third with back-to-back base knocks and both runners moved into scoring position on the single by Luchansky following a fielding error by West Brunswick.
Clark Cota scored Wilson on an RBI groundout and Trader Flora made it 4-0 on a sacrifice fly to left.
The Trojans were able to get one back in the fourth on an RBI by Carlyle, but the Pirates responded with six runs on seven hits in their next at-bat to break open a three-run game.
“It was one of those nights,” said West Brunswick Coach T.J. Spivey. “We saw a good Topsail team tonight and I think this will be good for us. We win eight in a row to start the season and I think we won some games we shouldn’t have early and it caught up to us tonight. But, that’s baseball. You’re going to fail more than succeed. We just need to dust it off and get back at it next week.”
Chase Riker led off the frame with a single up the middle and Wilson smacked a 1-0 pitch deep over the wall in left for a two-run round tripper and his second homer of the year.
Topsail batted around the order in the fifth and sent 11 hitters to the plate as Josh Madole, Chase Thompson and Bryce Cota all drove in runs. After the home run by Wilson, Luchansky popped up to short, but back-to-back walks issued to Cota and Flora set the table for five straight singles.
Riker went 3-for-4 in the nine spot and the Pirates finished with 15 hits. Wilson, Luchansky and Thompson all closed with multi-hit games.
“We just tried to shake up the lineup and Chase has been swinging a good bat for us,” said Gehris. “We put him in there to DH against Laney and he had a couple of hits, added a few more tonight. He can swing the bat and he’s a heads up player. He’s a smart kid, he wants to be in the game, works hard and you want to rewards those types of kids.”
Topsail moved to 7-1 overall and 3-1 in conference, while West Brunswick saw its eight-game win streak come to an end. The Trojans dropped to 2-1 in league play and 8-1 on the year.
Both teams return to the diamond on Tuesday, March 24. The Pirates entertain South Brunswick in Hampstead. The Trojans head to Wilmington for a date with New Hanover at Legion Stadium.
Box score R H E
Topsail 202 060 1 11 15 0
West 000 100 0 1 3 4
LOB_ Topsail 6; West 5; 2B_ C. Riker; HR_ D. Wilson (2); C. Cota; RBI_ Wilson (2); Cota (3); Madole (1); Thompson (1); B. Cota (2);
WP: Bryce Cota LP: Jonathan Carlyle
