GREENVILLE — In each of North Lenoir’s losses this season there has been a common theme — errors.
The Hawks made plenty of them on Saturday.
Cass Silber went 2-for-2 and with two RBIs and Raleigh Sanderson benefited greatly from North Lenoir’s eight errors in its 12-8 win over the Hawks in the Pitt County Classic at Guy Smith Stadium.
“We did what we have done (in our losses) — we laid back (on defense), we kicked it, and they took advantage,” said North Lenoir assistant coach Donnell Garris, the acting head coach Saturday in Jim Montague’s absence, who was at a family function.
“That’s the story of the season so far.”
Spartans right-hander Daniel Dulaney gave up one earned run and struck out six in five solid innings, but it was North Lenoir’s four-error second inning of defense that ultimately decided the outcome.
Sanderson (7-5), a 4A school which fell to Greenville Conley a game earlier, scored six runs in the frame, only three of which were charged to Hawks starter Seth Beard.
Silber had a two-run single in the inning and Matt Koehler drove one home with a bases-loaded walk for the only runs not given to the Spartans, who played as the home team, by North Lenoir’s defense.
“You can trace every loss we’ve had to one inning, where two, three errors have cost us a big portion of the ball game,” said Garris, whose team had its modest two-game win streak snapped.
Sanderson’s defense didn’t fare much better.
The six-run frame came after the Hawks (3-7) got on the board first in the first when Sammy West led off the game by reaching second on a two-base error on a towering fly ball to left-center field that the outfielder couldn’t handle. West later stole home when Caleb Baird reached after striking out on a ball that got by the catcher.
The Spartans had two errors in the inning, and added four more for the game for a total of 14 misplayed and badly-thrown balls between the two teams, who have each played for a state championship since the Hawks did it in 2007.
A three-base throwing error by shortstop Owen Langston led to three North Lenoir runs in fifth, which cut Sanderson’s lead to 11-4. After the Spartans tacked on another run in the sixth, the Hawks had three outs to make up the eight-run difference.
They got four.
North Lenoir batted around in the frame — the only time it had done so all game — and scored four runs on three more Sanderson errors. Baird drove in a pair on a single up the middle to make it 12-6, then he and Brandon Moore, who pinch-hit singled, scored on errors for the final margin.
Both teams had nine hits, with Baird (2-for-4, three RBIs) and Dylan Puchalski (2-for-4) leading the way for the Hawks.
North Lenoir will face defending 2A state champion Whiteville at 5:45 p.m. here on Monday for its second game in the three-game tournament.
“The guys fought back. Our starter didn’t’ last long; we had to go to the pen and they gave us some good innings. But we made (eight) errors. You can’t make errors,” Garris said.
“We didn’t play up to where we needed to be. We just didn’t execute, and that’s what it boils down to.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.
N. Lenoir 100 030 4—8 9 8
Sanderson 060 411 x—12 9 6
Beard, Jackson (2), West (4) and Baird; Dulaney, Mitchell (6) and Jeffers. W—Dulaney. L—Beard.