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A three-game trip to play in the Bulldog Easter Invitational at Terry Sanford High School got off to a bad start Saturday, but ended up on a high note for Lee County’s Yellow Jackets.
The Jackets won their finale of the showcase Tuesday night, downing Jack Britt 12-7 for a 2-1 record in the event and pulling the Jackets’ overall season record even at 10-10.
The game had some features reminiscent of Lee’s loss to Cape Fear on Saturday, where a poor second inning put the Jackets in a hole and they couldn’t dig out of it. In Tuesday’s game, the Buccaneers turned a 1-1 game into a 6-1 game after getting five runs in the top of the second inning. However, Lee stung them right back with six of their own, and led the rest of the way. A two-run double by Drew Stanfield with two out in the sixth extended the Jackets’ lead to 12-7, and the Bucs had to walk the plank after Landon Miles pitched a scoreless top of the seventh.
The Jackets hurt themselves with unsteady defense more than once in this contest, and only one of the seven Jack Britt runs were earned. That came in the first inning, where Luke Sheets walked three batters in his first pitching appearance in 39 days, and one of them scored.
Lee got that run back in its half of the first, when Gavin Swann doubled to bring Brad Jordan home. The wild second inning saw Lee’s second pitcher Alston Beal stuck with five unearned runs because an error required him to get four outs, and the Bucs got three hits, a walk, and a hit batsman with two outs recorded.
The good news is that Lee’s batters were crushing it. Austin Ragan, Destry Smith, and Jack Martin loaded the bases with three straight singles, and Channing Thomas stroked a two-run double into left field. Back-to-back singles by Landon Miles and Drew Stanfield followed, and Swann singled on an 0-2 pitch to drive in two runs and put Lee back ahead, 7-6.
The game went from wild to absurd in the Lee half of the third, when Stanfield, McDonald, and Swann all got hit by a pitch consecutively with two out, after Martin had led off the inning by being plunked. Swann’s ‘ouch’ drove him in, and then the Bucs’ pitcher decided to miss the plate in some other direction. This led to a walk for Beal and a second run forced home, extending the lead to 9-6.
The score stood at 10-7 after four complete innings, with Destry Smith now on the mound for the Jackets. He sailed through the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings with only an unearned run in the fourth charged to him. striking out four with two hits allowed.
Stanfield (2-for-4, two runs, three RBI), Swann (2-for-2, four RBI), and Thomas (1-for-3, two runs, two RBI) led the attack for Lee. Smith, Jordan and Martin all scored two runs, and Miles was held without a home run for the first time in the tournament, but did go 1-for-4 with a walk, a run scored, and an RBI. Swann reached in all four of his plate appearances.
Lee County entered into its Wednesday evening home game against Scotland controlling its own destiny to win the 3A half of the Sandhills Athletic Conference for the second year in a row. This game ended after press time, but if the Jackets won, a sweep of next week’s games with Southern Lee would hand the crown to them.
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The Jackets won their finale of the showcase Tuesday night, downing Jack Britt 12-7 for a 2-1 record in the event and pulling the Jackets’ overall season record even at 10-10.
The game had some features reminiscent of Lee’s loss to Cape Fear on Saturday, where a poor second inning put the Jackets in a hole and they couldn’t dig out of it. In Tuesday’s game, the Buccaneers turned a 1-1 game into a 6-1 game after getting five runs in the top of the second inning. However, Lee stung them right back with six of their own, and led the rest of the way. A two-run double by Drew Stanfield with two out in the sixth extended the Jackets’ lead to 12-7, and the Bucs had to walk the plank after Landon Miles pitched a scoreless top of the seventh.
The Jackets hurt themselves with unsteady defense more than once in this contest, and only one of the seven Jack Britt runs were earned. That came in the first inning, where Luke Sheets walked three batters in his first pitching appearance in 39 days, and one of them scored.
Lee got that run back in its half of the first, when Gavin Swann doubled to bring Brad Jordan home. The wild second inning saw Lee’s second pitcher Alston Beal stuck with five unearned runs because an error required him to get four outs, and the Bucs got three hits, a walk, and a hit batsman with two outs recorded.
The good news is that Lee’s batters were crushing it. Austin Ragan, Destry Smith, and Jack Martin loaded the bases with three straight singles, and Channing Thomas stroked a two-run double into left field. Back-to-back singles by Landon Miles and Drew Stanfield followed, and Swann singled on an 0-2 pitch to drive in two runs and put Lee back ahead, 7-6.
The game went from wild to absurd in the Lee half of the third, when Stanfield, McDonald, and Swann all got hit by a pitch consecutively with two out, after Martin had led off the inning by being plunked. Swann’s ‘ouch’ drove him in, and then the Bucs’ pitcher decided to miss the plate in some other direction. This led to a walk for Beal and a second run forced home, extending the lead to 9-6.
The score stood at 10-7 after four complete innings, with Destry Smith now on the mound for the Jackets. He sailed through the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings with only an unearned run in the fourth charged to him. striking out four with two hits allowed.
Stanfield (2-for-4, two runs, three RBI), Swann (2-for-2, four RBI), and Thomas (1-for-3, two runs, two RBI) led the attack for Lee. Smith, Jordan and Martin all scored two runs, and Miles was held without a home run for the first time in the tournament, but did go 1-for-4 with a walk, a run scored, and an RBI. Swann reached in all four of his plate appearances.
Lee County entered into its Wednesday evening home game against Scotland controlling its own destiny to win the 3A half of the Sandhills Athletic Conference for the second year in a row. This game ended after press time, but if the Jackets won, a sweep of next week’s games with Southern Lee would hand the crown to them.
Continue reading...
