BETHEL — Meatloaf said it first and Kinston baseball coach Mike Ellsworth reiterated it: “Two out of three ain’t bad.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the Vikings picked up their second win of the Pitt County Classic by steamrolling Amelia County (Va.) 11-1 at North Pitt High School.
In the same tournament last year Kinston (4-9) lost two of three.
“It’s good to see the kids being rewarded for all of their hard work,” Ellsworth said. “We’ve lost some tough games but we’ve kept our heads up and continued to improve.”
The final outcome against Amelia (3-5) could have been much worse. Kinston left an incredible 15 runners on base, including at least two in every inning.
The Vikings pounded out nine hits and took advantage of six Raiders errors. Four Amelia pitchers also combined to walk 10 batters.
“We failed to take capitalize on a few occasions, but overall I thought we did a good job of taking advantage of their mistakes,” Ellsworth said.
Kinston put the game away early by scoring three runs in the top of the first and two more in the second.
Robert Blake and Ryan Harrell each drove in runs with base hits and Sam McLawhorn contributed a sacrifice fly.
Taishu McLawhorn singled home a run in the fifth and VeQuain Joyner drove in a pair with a sixth inning base hit.
The Vikings added two more in the seventh, keyed by pinch hitter Duane Mills’ RBI single.
“We hit the ball hard when we got pitches to hit,” Ellsworth said. “I’m proud of the way we attacked at the plate.”
While the Vikings were laying down the heavy lumber, pitcher Blake was in cruise control.
The sophomore right-hander scattered seven hits and only lost his shutout with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
“Robert threw strikes, challenged hitters, and let his defense make plays behind him,” Ellsworth said. “He did everything you ask a starting pitcher to do.”
The Raiders played with a heavy heart after their starting second baseman was killed in a tragic automobile accident a little over a week ago. Coming into the tournament, Amelia had only practiced once since the incident and had canceled its previous three games.
Amelia’s first pitch of the game was played without a second baseman on the field in honor of their fallen teammate.
WILSON FIKE 8, KINSTON 3
The Vikings lost to once-beaten 3A power Wilson Fike in Tuesday morning action.
Damien Williams laced three of Kinston’s five hits, including a double. Blake and Joyner also contributed base hits for Kinston, which defeated Washington 5-1 on Saturday in its tournament opener.
Kinston 320 013 2—11 9 0
Amelia County 000 000 1—1 7 6
Blake and T. McLawhorn. Belcher, Phillips (2), Holder (6), Gibson (7), and Tasker. W—Blake. L—Belcher.