Louisburg College has long been recognized as a Division I junior college national baseball power.
For Wednesday at least, Lenoir Community College joined that conversation.
The Division II Lancers rode some timely hitting, superb relief pitching, and took advantage of sloppy defense to knock off the Hurricanes 6-5 in a non-conference battle between the long-time rivals at Lancer Field.
“It was a good win against a good team and a good program,” LCC coach Stony Wine said. “It’s the kind of win that can build confidence and momentum for the rest of the season.”
LCC (13-2) broke a 5-5 tie with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth. A pair of former Greene Central standouts, Trent Murray and Ryan Cobb, keyed the rally.
Murray was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and advanced to second on Cobb’s second perfect sacrifice bunt of the contest.
A wild pitch from Hurricanes reliever Alex Ledford ushered Murray to third, and then another ball in the dirt one batter later allowed Murray to trot home without a play at the plate.
The potential tying run reached third in the Louisburg ninth, but Robbie Hiser managed to strike out the side to earn the save.
Hiser’s clutch performance was the last of three such efforts from the Lancers relief corps.
After LCC starter Ben Jarboe departed with his team trailing 4-3, North Lenoir product Caleb Kearney entered and gave the Lancers exactly the prescription the doctor ordered: 4 2/3 innings of stellar relief, allowing just one run.
Travis Long got the final out of the eighth before giving way to Hiser in the ninth.
“Our relievers came in and did an outstanding job,” Wine said. “Caleb hadn’t pitched a lot this season but he was very sharp. Travis is experienced and we know what he can do, and Robbie hadn’t been on the mound in a game situation for several weeks. They all came through for us today.”
LCC started fast, building a 3-0 lead on Tyler Tant’s first-inning RBI single, and Kyle Smith’s two-RBI base hit in the second.
Both hits came with two out.
Louisburg (11-4) rallied with a pair of runs in the third and then took its only lead on Pete Guy’s massive two-run homer to left in the fourth.
The Lancers regained the advantage with two in the sixth. The first run came home on an error, and the other scored when Cobb proved that he’s not just a terrific bunter with a solid RBI single to left.
LCC also blew some chances, leaving eight runners stranded, including five in scoring position.
“It wasn’t perfect but we’ll take it,” Wine said. “We had a couple of mental breakdowns, but those things can be corrected. Overall it was a nice building block going forward.”
The Lancers return to action this weekend when they travel to Brunswick Community College in a key Region X series.
Louisburg 002 200 010—5 11 3
LCC 120 002 01x—6 8 3
Holt, Batts (3), McCormack (6), Simpkins (6), Ledford (8) and Guy; Jarboe, Kearney (4), Long (8), Hiser (9) and Remick, Murray (5). W—Long. L—Ledford. Sv—Hiser.