DEEP RUN — Tuesday’s East Central 2A Conference softball showdown between league leader Topsail and second place South Lenoir lived up to the hype.
It just didn’t end the way the Blue Devils had hoped.
Summer Darnell drove in two runs and pitched a complete game, and the Pirates scored the winning run on an error in the eighth inning of a 5-4 win that gave them a two-game lead over the Blue Devils in the league standings.
South Lenoir tied it at 4 in the fifth after falling behind 4-0 when Madison Herring singled, then came all the way around to score after the ball got by center fielder Kaleigh Bordeaux.
Two-plus innings later a sharply-hit ball by Darnell to Herring at shortstop couldn’t be fielded cleanly, which allowed Keri White to score from second for the 5-4 lead.
Darnell worked around an error in the home-half of the eighth to give her team its 22nd straight league win and its seventh straight over South Lenoir (12-3, 6-2).
“We win as a team and we lose as a team,” Blue Devils coach Lisa Smith said. “We were down 4-0, and we came back and fought hard. I was very proud. … We just made one less mistake than they did.
“We hadn’t lost here all year long (and) didn’t want to start tonight and they wanted to protect their house. And they did just about everything they could do.”
South Lenoir, which fell to third place following Richlands’ 6-5 win over East Duplin and had its nine-game win streak snapped, hadn’t lost since being 10-run ruled at Topsail in a 13-0 loss on March 15.
While it never appeared as though this one would end in the same fashion, it did look as if the Pirates (13-2, 8-0) were on their way to yet another win after they jumped out to a 4-0 lead early.
But it was short lived.
Madison Beyer’s two-run double and an RBI groundout from Meredith Sanderson in the fourth helped South Lenoir erase the four-run deficit and pull to within one at 4-3.
The Blue Devils then tied it in the fifth on Herring’s round-the-bases single, and all the momentum seemed to shift to the home team.
Taylor Sandlin gave up four runs on six hits in four innings, then Beyer came on in relief and retired the sides in order in the fifth and seventh innings and worked around an error in the sixth to keep it tied heading into the extra frame.
Beyer struck out two and gave up no hits in the tough-luck loss.
“Compared to the last time we played them, 13-0, I mean, I couldn’t be — the only way I could be happier is if we won,” Smith said. “It’s a shame because both teams played so well. I’m proud of our girls and how they fought to come back.
“I thought our two pitchers did really well tonight,” she added. “They’re learning how to fight.”
Darnell, a senior, gave up only four hits and didn’t give up her first until Sandlin singled in the comeback fourth.
South Lenoir got a pair of hits from Herring and Morgan Mentz in the fifth, but managed only one base runner the rest of the way — Mentz, who reached on an error and made it to third, in the eighth.
Darnell threw 148 total pitches, 93 for strikes and struck out 10 in the win in what will most likely be the last time the two teams play at South Lenoir, at least for the foreseeable future.
Next year the Pirates are moving up a classification to 3A.
“They are a very good team. They fight,” Smith said of her league rival. “They’re a great hitting team — they play all year round — and they’re a great fielding team and Summer’s a great pitcher.”
Up next for South Lenoir is a league game at Jacksonville Northside on Friday. While the Blue Devils are now two games back of Topsail and a game back of Richlands in the loss column, Smith isn’t in panic mode with six conference games left.
“In hitting we’ve got to be more consistent with everything,” she said. “When we did what we were supposed to do we got the base hits, and doing our fundamentals.
“They’re a good bunch of girls and they’re going to come back and they’re going to work hard.”
Notes: South Lenoir was 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. … Blue Devils pitchers Taylor Sandlin and Madison Beyer threw 35 pitches each. … Both teams committed three errors. … South Lenoir will make up its game with Richlands on May 2. Its game with East Duplin, regularly scheduled for May 3, has been rescheduled for May 7.
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.
Topsail 100 300 01—5 6 3
S. Lenoir 000 310 00—4 4 3
Darnell and White; Sandlin, Beyer (5) and Williams. W—Darnell. L—Beyer.