Two streaks were broken as Mount Airy completed a comeback victory against North Stokes on April 5.
North Stokes recorded seven hits in the first four innings to take a 4-1 lead. Mount Airy held the visitors hitless through the final three innings behind strong pitching from Landon Cox, but the home team struggled to capitalize at the plate until the final inning.
Mount Airy put three of its first four batters on base in the bottom of the seventh to set Rylan Venable up for a 3RBI hit to right field. Venable made it all the way to third on his game-tying hit, then the junior tagged up on a sacrifice fly from Cox to end the game.
North Stokes, ranked No. 3 in the 1A West in MaxPreps’ April 3 poll, came into Wednesday’s game having won its past 14 games. Mount Airy, meanwhile, had dropped its past three games – including a 9-5 loss to North Stokes just 24 hours earlier.
“This was big for us,” said Mount Airy coach Josh Wilson. “Especially going into next week when we’ve got a little more time since it’s our bye week for the conference. If we go into next week having lost four straight and falling to the bottom of the pack in the conference it’s hard to come back from that, especially with the unknown of Venable and [Kam] Hawks.”
Venable has dealt with a nagging injury this season that has limited his time pitching, and Hawks is still looking to make his 2023 debut after a knee injury sidelined him during football season.
“We’re hoping to get some good news soon,” Coach Wilson said. “A lot of kids have played different positions and stepped up.”
The loss is North Stokes’ first to a 1A opponent this season and the team’s first overall defeat since March 2. Mount Airy picks up its first Northwest 1A Conference win since defeating South Stokes on March 24.
The Bears (8-9, 4-4 NW1A) played the Vikings tight in their first meeting on April 4. Mount Airy scored three sixth-inning runs in that game to tie things up at 5-5, but North Stokes responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Mount Airy had chances to tie the game again or take the lead in the top of the seventh, but failed to score.
During the rematch, Mount Airy loaded the bases with just one out in the bottom of the seventh. Ian Gallimore was hit by a pitch from North Stokes’ Michael Frye, which was Gallimore’s second time being hit by a pitch in the game and the 11th instance on the season, to lead off in the inning.
A line drive from Sam Martin moved Gallimore to second before North picked up the first out of the inning, then bases were loaded thanks to a single from Ashton Gwyn.
Up next were Mount Airy’s No. 2 and No. 3 hitters in the lineup: Venable and Cameryn Wilson.
“We started the inning at the bottom of the lineup and had guys step up and put the ball in play,” Coach Wilson said. “I had my mind made up and I thought we could run faster than they can throw it. We had to put pressure on [North] to make a play, and they haven’t been in many games where they had that kind of pressure late. Last night we did the exact same thing where we were down and had the tying run at the plate, then struck out.
“Tonight, we get the tying run to the plate and it’s the right guy: Venable. If you’re going to hand the bat to one or two people it’s going to be him or Wilson.”
Venable and Cameryn Wilson lead the Bears in hits and batting average this season. Cameryn’s 25 RBIs rank No. 9 in the state among all divisions, and Venable ranks No. 6 and No. 7 in the 1A West, respectively, with a .750 slugging percentage and 19 runs scored.
Venable scored all three of his teammates with a hard-hit ball to right-center field. North Stokes tried to throw Gwyn out at home so Venable went to third on the throw. Cameryn was then intentionally walked to put runners on the corners.
Next up was Cox, who is No. 3 on the team in RBIs and slugging percentage as well as No. 4 in hits and batting average. The game-winning run was on third with just one out on the board.
“It was kind of a no-brainer to put some pressure on them to see if they could make the play,” Coach Wilson said.
Cox came up to bat and hit a pop fly in shallow right field. North’s second baseman made the catch and looked to quickly throw home, but Venable beat the throw and slid safely into the plate for the victory.
“He stepped up big for us tonight, and I think that should be a big confidence booster for him,” Coach Wilson said of Cox. “He had a great at-bat earlier in the night but had to deal with the batter’s interference call, then he comes back and has a nine-pitch at-bat and ends up drawing a walk in the sixth before the sac fly in the seventh.
“Then on the mound we gave up four runs in one inning, then he put all zeroes on the board after that.”
Cox and Cameryn Wilson split pitching duties for the Granite Bears/Cameryn started and threw 3.1 innings, during which he struck out three batters, walked two and allowed four runs on seven hits. Cox entered in the fourth inning and threw 3.2 innings, during which he struck out six batters and walked three without giving up any hits or runs.
Blaze Lawson pitched the first six innings for the Vikings (14-3, 7-1 NW1A). The senior finished with 10 strikeouts, two walks, one hit batter and allowed one run on three hits.
Frye pitched the seventh inning for North Stokes and struck out one batter, hit one batter and gave up four runs on three hits.
North Stokes hit four singles in the first three innings – two from Bryson Bennett and one each from Lawson and Jackson Lester – but none of the Vikings were able to advance past second base. This changed in the fourth inning when the Vikings nearly doubled their hit total.
Cameryn Wilson struck out North’s first batter in the inning, but the next six Vikings got on base. Bases were loaded after Frye and Cash Dalton singled and Noah Bennett was walked, then an RBI single from Jamison McBride scored Frye. Mount Airy then walked Brandon Shemo and Bryson Bennett to bring two more runs in, and a sacrifice fly from Lawson allowed McBride to score run No. 4.
A double from Venable in the bottom of the fourth gave Mount Airy its first hit of the evening. A Cameryn Wilson line drive hit down the left field line scored Venable to make it a 4-1 ball game.
The Bears loaded the bases after Brison George singled and Gallimore was hit by a pitch, but Lawson closed the inning with a strikeout before any more damage could be done.
North Stokes only got on base twice in the final three innings, and both instances resulted from players being walked. Five of the final six outs against North were strikeouts thrown by Cox.
Cox was one of two Mount Airy players to get on base across the fifth and sixth innings. The junior was walked, then was called out going to second after a fielder’s choice.
Mount Airy sits in third place in the NW1A Conference standings heading into its week away from league play. North Stokes leads the conference with a 7-1 record, followed by Starmount at 3-2, Mount Airy and East Wilkes at 4-4, South Stokes at 3-3, Elkin at 2-3 and Alleghany at 0-6.
Scoring
NS – 0, 0, 0, 4, 0, 0, 0 = 4
MA – 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 4 = 5
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com