DOBSON — North Surry bounced back from a three-game skid with a 9-1 road win over Surry Central.
Both teams looked to build momentum for the Foothills 2A Conference tournament as the final week of the regular season began. Eleven hits by the Greyhounds led to multiple runs being scored in three separate innings during a four-inning stretch at Central. North Surry (8-10, 5-5 FH2A) also took advantage of six Surry Central errors to get back to .500 in conference play.
The Lady Greyhounds came into Monday’s game having just endured what was arguably their toughest three-game stretch of the season. In the span of six days, North Surry played two of the top three teams in FH2A conference – Wilkes Central (11-5) and Forbush (15-6) – as well as the No. 5-ranked team in the 1A West, South Stokes (14-4).
Surry Central (3-12, 2-9 FH2A), meanwhile, looked to pick up its first win in more than a month. The Golden Eagles’ previous three games saw the team come up just short in a close matchup against East Surry (4-12), then fall to the No. 6-ranked team in the 2A West, West Wilkes (17-2), as well as the No. 21 4A West team, West Forsyth (16-5).
Both teams put runners on third in the first inning, Sarah Mauldin for North and Alyssa Woods for Central, but both were left on base.
Once North Surry connected for a hit in the second inning the Hounds couldn’t seem to miss. Following a leadoff ground out, Micah Felts singled for North and went to second on an Eagle fielding error. Sadie Montgomery hit an RBI to score Felts, but was called out going to second.
Kadie Fulk and Carley Puckett repopulated the bases with a single and double, respectively. Bella Aparicio doubled to score both runners, then advanced to third on the throw home.
A fly out, strikeout and ground out in the bottom of the second put North Surry back up to bat. Trista Berrier led off by reaching first on a fielding error. The Eagles committed an error when attempting to get Berrier out at second on a Marissa Casstevens hit, so Berrier went to third to put runners on the corners. This set Berrier up to score on an error committed by Central when attempting to pick her off.
Jordan Snow joined Casstevens’ courtesy runner, Lexie Allen, on base with a grounder to third. The duo started on base with no outs, but would not advance any further in the inning.
Central’s Woods got on base for the second time in the bottom of the third, but another quick inning left the Eagles scoreless.
North had its second multi-run inning in the fourth. Puckett picked up her second hit of the game with a single, then moved to second on a ground out and third on a passed ball. Berrier doubled with two outs to score Puckett, then Berrier scored on a Casstevens hit that was overthrown.
The Eagles finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a well-timed double. Kaylin Moody led off with a single to center field, advanced to second on a passed ball and went to third on a ground out. Kailea Zurita crushed a fly ball to right-center to score Moody and reach second herself.
Zurita advanced to third on a ground out as the Eagles threatened to score again, but North’s Berrier tossed a strikeout to end the inning and prevent further damage. Berrier threw a complete game for the Hounds, striking out seven, walking one, and allowing one run on four hits.
Carlee Jones threw all seven innings for Surry Central. The Golden Eagle senior struck out three batters, walked one, and allowed nine runs on 11 hits.
North Surry’s leadoff batter got on base for the third consecutive inning in the fifth thanks to a Felts single. Central got outs on the next two batters and didn’t allow Felts to advance past second, hoping the Hounds’ scoring fest was coming to an end. Puckett played spoiler by hitting a line drive to center to score Felts, then moving to second on the throw home to make it 7-1.
Aparicio was up next and hammered a line to drive to score Puckett. An error in the outfield provided all the time Aparicio needed to circle the diamond and slide into home plate for run No. 9.
After the exciting four-inning stretch for North Surry, neither squad recorded a hit in the final 2.5 innings. The Hounds did have one batter walked during this stretch, and the Eagles put one player on base via error.
Scoring
North Surry – 0, 3, 1, 2, 3, 0, 0 = 9
Surry Central – 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0 = 1
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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