North Lenoir Holds Off Wallace-Rose Hill, Extends Win Streak to Nine
WHEAT SWAMP — It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t dominant. But it was exactly what North Lenoir baseball has been all season long—resilient.
The Hawks survived a late push from Wallace-Rose Hill and extended their win streak to nine with a 4-3 home victory on Tuesday night. Senior Mason Sasser threw six solid innings and Wriston Honeycutt closed the door in the seventh, helping North Lenoir remain unbeaten in East Central 2A play at 7-0 (11-3 overall).
“There are some things for us to work on,” head coach Cam Sherrer said. “It’s not all bad when you look at things. Like we’ve been doing all year, we struggle somewhere but we find a way to pull the win out.”
North Lenoir jumped on the Bulldogs early with three runs in the first inning. An error plated the opening run before Blayden Pridgen’s groundout scored two more. Aiden Clark’s RBI single in the second stretched the lead to 4-0, which proved just enough to hold off Wallace-Rose Hill (1-6, 4-10).
Sasser improved to 3-0 on the mound this season after tossing six innings, allowing seven hits and three runs (two earned) while striking out six. He threw 90 pitches, 58 for strikes, and battled through trouble in the third and fifth innings.
“Wriston came in after a good performance from Mason,” Sherrer added. “Wriston came in and shut it down. We had some good defensive help in that last inning and we got it in. We found ways, we got the ball, and we gotta have confidence in our guys to make the plays—and they did when it mattered.”
Honeycutt earned his first save of the year, pitching a scoreless seventh with one walk and no hits allowed.
Offensively, the Hawks were led by Ethan Smith (1-for-3), Jayden Miller (1-for-3), Clark (1-for-2, RBI, run), and Honeycutt, who ripped a double. Pridgen added an RBI despite going 0-for-2. Carter Chadwick swiped two of the team’s four stolen bases, while Clark and Garrison Byrd each added one.
Byrd continues to lead North Lenoir with a .457 batting average, 17 RBIs, and 18 runs scored. Pridgen and Smith each have 16 hits, while Clark holds a .400 average with 10 RBIs.
On the mound this season, Sasser has now pitched 16.2 innings with a 1.68 ERA and 28 strikeouts, and Honeycutt holds a 3-1 record with a 3.62 ERA in 19.1 innings.
The Hawks’ win keeps them atop the East Central 2A standings, ahead of South Lenoir (6-1, 10-2) and East Duplin (5-3, 7-6). North Lenoir defeated South Lenoir 4-2 back on March 28.
Now, the attention shifts to a pivotal two-game conference series next week against East Duplin.
“Every game is big now,” Sherrer said. “We just got to keep doing what we’re doing and stay resilient like we’ve been all year.”
North Lenoir is currently No. 8 in the NCHSAA 2A RPI rankings and seeking redemption after falling in last year’s state championship game. They host Kinston on Thursday before heading to East Duplin on April 15 and hosting the Panthers again on April 17.
