Hawks' High Drama: Edging Rivals in a 9-7 Thriller
The rivalry is real and filled with competitive edges, North Lenoir went to battle in a hard-fought 9-7 victory over the South Lenoir Blue Devils, further showing their dominance in a historic series that has seen them capture 19 of the last 20 meetings.
Mason Sasser ignited the Hawks' offense early with a pivotal double, signaling a clear intent that North Lenoir was not willing to relent on their home turf. Following suit, Blake Crawford hammered a line drive double to give the Hawks the early 2-0 advantage.
But the Blue Devils, unshaken by the Hawks' early onslaught and undeterred by a previous loss to Midway, came to play. Christian Coples's scorching double narrowed the gap, and with Matthew Rhodes delivering a 2-RBI hit, suddenly South Lenoir seized a 4-3 lead.
Hawks' Ethan Smith came through providing the next twist. His contribution, combined with Garrett Byrd's RBI single, reclaimed the lead for North Lenoir at 5-3. Wriston Honeycutt's bat roared in the clutch, contributing significantly to a 9-4 advantage.
Despite trailing, the Blue Devils displayed tenacity in the face of defeat. Rhodes, in a remarkable individual effort, drove in two more runs in the seventh inning, as Rhodes refused to let the Blue Devils go down. Ultimatley the Blue Devils went down fighting 9-7.
Cam Sherrer encapsulated the sentiment, stating, "Every time we play them, they are going to bring it. It's a playoff atmosphere every time these two teams take the field. Regardless of what you got going on, you have to play your best."
Sherrer also highlighted the depth of North Lenoir's lineup, remarking, "Every single up and down the lineup is bringing something to this team." His confidence in the Hawks' batting order was evident as he later added, "If something goes wrong, you just got to rely on the next guy in the lineup to get things done."
Ethan Smith described the electrifying atmosphere, noting, "The excitement levels were high, we were ready to go, it was intense and everyone was ready to roll." The stakes were further amplified by pregame chatter, to which Smith acknowledged, "Absolutely, it was a big game, a lot of people had a lot to say."
Faced with a moment of truth, with South Lenoir mounting a comeback, Smith's approach was pragmatic, "Really just try to put the ball in play and hope something happens." His triple, under immense pressure, was a pivotal moment that effectively sealed the game.
Looking ahead, Coach Sherrer set his sights on future contests, understanding the path to sustained success, "Next week we got a tough opponent in East Duplin. We are going to go back to the drawing board and get some great practices."
South Lenoir's coach Novicki recognized his team's fighting spirit, stating, "We fight, man. We didn't give up. We scored four in the last two innings; we're going to keep fighting; we just gotta clean some things up like making the play when it is time to make the play and limit punch outs."
He also laid out the clear route to victory for his team, "Boys, we win the game if we clean it up. Plain and simple. I feel like we are a good baseball team. When we limit mistakes, we are hard to beat."
The pitching performance of Matthew Rhodes, despite the loss, did not go unnoticed. Coach Novicki praised his pitcher, "Matthew Rhodes filled it up, maybe two walks, maybe one. I felt like we pitched well and we just didn't make the plays."
Last and definitely not least, Jenkins turned in a stellar performance to anchor North Lenoir's triumph. Over five innings, he hurled 90 pitches with a remarkable 61 strikes, racking up an impressive 12 strikeouts. Jenkins' dominance on the mound set the tone for the Hawks' 9-7 victory, his precision pitching earning him a well-deserved win in this high-stakes rivalry game.
If this was round one of the Rivalry, I cant wait for round two on April 26th.
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