Dylan Tilson (22) throws a pitch during Scotland’s victory over Triton on Monday night at McCoy Field. Tilson pitched six innings and had six strikeouts.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Garrett Manning (2) fields the ball and throws it to first base.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Dawson Williams swings at a pitch. Williams had two hits in the game, an RBI and a run scored.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
LAURINBURG —The Scotland boys baseball team defeated the Triton Hawks by a score of 5-4 on Monday night at McCoy Field. The Scots improve to 8-3 on the season with their fourth consecutive victory while Triton falls to 6-6 on the season with their third straight loss. The game required nine innings to decide a winner.
Head Coach Ricky Schattauer was pleased with the way his team remained focused and locked in on winning the game even as the innings continued to pass. The confidence built by the Scots over their winning streak had Schattauer believing that they would find a way to win no matter how it had to get done.
“Our team stayed up even in the extras,” Schattauer said. “We came together, we worked together, not everything went our way but overall I feel like when we’re hot those last few things are going to go our way.”
After both teams went down in order during the first inning, the Hawks would get on the board first in the top of the second. Isaac Bennett started the inning with an infield grounder and managed to reach second base safely thanks to a Scotland fielding error. After Bennett advanced to third on a wild pitch, he would score on an RBI groundout from Zach Roberson to make it 1-0.
Both teams managed at least one hit in their subsequent offensive inning (bottom of second and top of third) but no runs were scored. The Scots managed to tie the game in the bottom of the third with Briley Lewis getting a single before scoring on an RBI double from Dawson Williams. Both hits came with two outs.
Triton would quickly take the lead back in their half of the fourth with Kason Brown leading off the inning with a single and stealing second. He would then move over to third on a sacrifice bunt from Bennett and eventually score on a wild pitch.
Scotland to their credit responded immediately in the bottom of the fourth. Blane Callahan led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a groundout by Garrett Manning. Dylan Tilson would then drive in Callahan with a clutch two-out RBI single to tie the game at two.
The Scots then would take their first lead of the game with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Lewis would get on base with a single and score on a two-out RBI double from Kaden Hunsucker as the attempted throw to get him out at third sailed to the backstop and allowed him to reach home safely. Maddox Locklear would then steal home while Josh Smith stole second simultaneously.
The Hawks were able to get one run back in the top of the sixth. William Meredith drew a walk to lead off the inning and eventually reached third thanks to a single from Bennett and another walk drawn by Alan Hinson as Triton had the bases loaded with one out. Meredith would score on a passed ball to make it 4-3, though the Hawks would leave the bases loaded to end the inning.
Triton would then tie the game at four with Brayden Bates getting a home run in the first pitch of the seventh inning. Both teams would have at least one base runner during each of the next four half innings but nobody scored until the bottom of the ninth.
Scotland would get the winning run across in a traditional get on and get over method. Williams got on base with a single before stealing second and advancing to third on the throw attempting to get him out as it sailed into the outfield.
Hunsucker then drew a walk while Callahan would be intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. Locklear then got the winning run in by perfectly laying down a bunt to score Williams.
Lewis led Scotland’s offense in hits with a 3-4 night from the plate and two runs scored. Williams, Hunsucker, Locklear and Tilson had one RBI apiece.
Tilson started the game on the mound for the Scots and gave the team six innings of three-run ball (two earned) while allowing just four hits. He had six strikeouts against three walks.
The Scots will stay at home for another out of conference matchup on Saturday afternoon against the South View Tigers (5-6 as of this writing). First pitch from McCoy Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Scotland was scheduled to host Western Harnett on Wednesday night but that contest wound up being canceled due to a scheduling conflict. With more of a gap between games than initially expected, Schattauer will have some adjustments to make to the team’s routine, though he believes a small rest period could be beneficial for the team as they prepare for the back half of the season.
“We’re going to try to have a little intrasquad between the guys that aren’t throwing or that should’ve thrown on Wednesday,” Schattauer said. “We’ll give us some live at bats at practice on Wednesday or Thursday just to keep us fresh. Maybe the break, we’re kind of midway through the season, will keep us hot too.”