The Foothills Post 123 Junior Legion team flipped the script on the Surry Pride by posting a home victory on June 13.
Surry defended its home field 5-2 when the teams faced off in Dobson on June 9, then Foothills returned the favor with a 9-8 win at Mount Airy High School four days later.
Foothills led by as many as six runs in Tuesday’s game, but a steady comeback from Surry cut the lead to one entering the ninth inning. Surry even put the tying run on base in the top of the ninth before a pair of Pride baserunners were left stranded.
Camden Easter (Millennium Charter) pitched in relief for the Juniors. Easter went without a strikeout in the eighth inning, then opened the ninth with his second K of the evening. Surry’s second batter of the inning, Ian Hooker (Surry Central), faced a full count but was walked.
The Pride went back to the top of the lineup with one out. Brayden Woodring (Surry Central) hit a fly ball to right field, but a diving catch from Nick Burnette (North Surry) brought the Juniors one out away from a victory.
Dru Gaddy (Surry Central) faced a full count before hitting a hard ground ball between third base and shortstop. Gaddy stayed on first, while Hooker – the potential game-tying run – beat the throw to third base.
Easter ended the game with a strikeout.
The teams combined to score 17 runs on 21 hits. Six Surry players recorded at least one hit, and eight Foothills players recorded at least one hit.
Six players – two from Surry and four from Foothills – recorded multiple hits. Surry’s Britt Barrier (Carroll County) and Foothills’ Colton Andrews (East Surry) led the way with three hits each.
Landon Gallimore (Mount Airy) started on the mound for Foothills. Gallimore pitched 4.2 innings, during which time he threw four strikeouts, six walks, one hit by pitch, and allowed six runs on six hits.
Easter threw the final 2.1 innings for the Juniors with three strikeouts, two walks, and two runs allowed on two hits.
Surry used three pitchers in Tuesday’s game.
Will Pardue (Elkin) started and pitched 2.0 innings, during which time he threw two strikeouts, two walks, and allowed four runs on five hits. Ty Lloyd (Surry Central) then threw two strikeouts, one walk, and allowed four runs on four hits in 1.2 innings.
Jonas Johnson (Elkin) closed the game for the Pride with four strikeouts, no walks, and one run on four hits in 2.1 innings.
Surry struck first in the game with a run in the top of the third. Hooker and Woodring were walked, then a single from Barrier loaded the bases with two outs. Landon Johnson (Surry Central) brought Hooker home with a grounder to left field, but three runners were left on base in the inning.
The Pride left 10 runners on base in the game.
Foothills responded in a big way with seven runs in the bottom of the inning. Bases were quickly loaded, with Davin Weatherford (North Wilkes) earning a base on balls to pair with singles from Bob Goins (North Surry) and Gallimore.
Dylan Rhodes (North Wilkes) brought a pair of runs in with a single, then an RBI double from Macean Alvear (North Surry) made it 3-1.
Foothills once again found itself with loaded bases after Jonah Adams (North Surry) was walked. Easter sent a frozen rope down the line in left field to bring three more runs in and earn a triple in the process.
The lead increased to 7-1 when Goins hit an RBI double, which was his second hit of the inning.
The comeback was steady for Surry as the visitors scored multiple runs in each of the next three innings, beginning with three runs in the top of the fourth. Gallimore struck the inning’s first batter out, then the next three got on base: Zack Stewart (Elkin) was walked, Garrett Higgins (Surry Central) singled, then Hooker was walked.
Stewart scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-2. Bases were loaded again when Jax Whitaker (Surry Central) was walked, then Barrier brought two more runs in with a double.
Three consecutive Foothills hits extended the lead back to five in the bottom half of the fourth inning. The first two batters for the Juniors flied out, but Alvear doubled to put momentum in Foothills’ favor.
Andrews traded places with Alvear with a double of his own, then Adams scored Andrews with a single to make it 9-4.
Surry stayed the course with a pair of runs in the fifth; Hooker tripled to score Kasen White (Surry Central) and Higgins, who were walked and hit by a pitch, respectively, earlier in the inning.
The Pride held the Juniors scoreless in the fifth, then added two runs of their own in the sixth.
Gaddy was walked, then moved to third on a double from Barrier. Landon Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to bring Gaddy home and close the gap to 9-7.
Foothills forced another flyout, then White singled to score Barrier.
Surry’s Jonas Johnson opened the bottom of the sixth with two more strikeouts, bringing his total to four after doing the same to the final two batters of the fifth. Andrews singled for Foothills, but a flyout left the door open for Surry to come back.
Easter’s late strikeouts and Burnette’s diving catch solidified the victory for Foothills.
Scoring
Surry Pride – 0, 0, 1, 3, 2, 2, 0 = 8
Foothills – 0, 0, 7, 2, 0, 0, 0 = 9
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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