Southern still rules Brick City baseball
Apr. 25—Southern Lee can't take away Lee County's spot as the top 3A team in the Sandhills Athletic Conference this time.
But the Cavaliers can still make the Yellow Jackets settle for being the No. 2 public school team in Lee County again. On Tuesday night, they took the first step in that direction.
Host Southern fell into a 2-0 hole right out of the gate in the first of the two-game series with arch-rival Lee to complete the regular season. Lee held that lead until the third inning, but the rest of the night was all Cavaliers. Southern took a one-run lead in the bottom half of the third, added four more in the fifth, and another in the sixth to win going away, 8-2.
It was the fourth win in a row for Southern Lee (9-13, 5-6 Sandhills) going back to last season. At this time a year ago, Lee needed just one win over the Cavaliers in the two-game series to win the 3A portion of the conference, but Southern swept the series, then beat Lee again in the conference tournament on its way to the East regional final.
Things are different this season. Southern still has talent but also a lot of inexperience. The Cavaliers started 2-9, but have played very well since, and played themselves onto the bubble of the 3A state playoff picture in the final days before the field will be announced May 6. No high seed would look forward to facing Southern, which still has many playoff-tested performers.
The Cavaliers took the lead in the third against Jacket starter Andrew Stanfield, who had escaped a two-on, one-out jam the previous inning. This time, Cooper Harrington, Caleb Waters, and Marcus Blanks opened things up with three consecutive singles, the last of which netted an RBI for Blanks and put the home team on the board. Southern then tied the game up when the Lee defense kicked a grounder off the bat of Cooper Moss. Moss went to second on the miscue, and later stole third before scoring on a passed ball to put Southern in front for the first time.
Staked to a lead, Harrington hit his groove. He worked around an error to strike out the side in the fourth, then pitched his way out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth, when Luke Sheets doubled and head coach Tommy Harrington ordered an intentional walk to BJ Brown. His son made him look smart, getting Walker McDuffie on a comebacker to the mound and Andrew Stanfield on a popup to leave the score at 3-2.
The Cavaliers put it away just moments later. Cooper Harrington led off with a walk, and then the Jackets gave their rivals even more assistance, kicking an infield grounder. Harrington scored on a passed ball with Blanks at the plate, and then Blanks and Moss hit back-to-back singles as Southern extended the lead to 5-2. The Jackets continued their defensive meltdown with two more errors on the next two batters before Bryan McCollum singled to drive in TJ McAuley.
Lee loaded the bases in the sixth with two out against Harrington and did it again in the seventh against reliever Dylan McBurnett, but failed to score either time. In between, a leadoff double by Waters and another error, Lee's fifth of the game, added one more tally to the Southern side of the scoreboard.
The Cavalier pitching stood strong, with Harrington allowing just three hits and one earned run over six innings. McBurnett struck out two in his one inning of work.
Blanks led the Cavaliers with three hits on the evening, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. McCollum went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Moss drove in two runs while Harrington scored two.
The win moved Southern Lee up to No. 31 in the 3A East RPI, meaning the Cavaliers would be in the playoffs if the season ended now. All four SAC 3A teams are in playoff position, with Scotland at No. 30, followed by the Cavaliers and then Union Pines at 32. Lee, rated 20th, has an automatic bid.
Lee County (14-9, 7-4) had a 2-for-4 effort from Sheets leading off but collected just four hits in the game. The Jackets took a 2-0 lead in the first after he led the game off with a double and Brown was hit by a pitch after him. With one out, Sheets stole third and the throw from home plate went awry and allowed him to score. Brown ended up on third base and scored moments later on a wild pitch.
The teams will meet again tonight at 7 p.m. at Lee County.
