DEEP RUN — For three innings Friday it looked as if the NCHSAA state 2A softball playoff opener between South Lenoir and North Brunswick was going down to the wire.
The Blue Devils made sure it didn’t.
Morgan Mentz went 3-for-4 and Taylor Sandlin drove in four runs as South Lenoir cruised to an 11-3 win over the Scorpions to advance to the second round.
The Blue Devils (19-3) will face Providence Grove, a 3-2 winner in extra innings over Fairmont Friday, at a time to be determined on Tuesday.
“The girls just didn’t panic,” South Lenoir coach Lisa Smith said. “They kept fighting and we hit the ball well. We took some chances and the girls came together as a team.”
A three-run homer from Preston Ellenberg in the third inning erased the Blue Devils’ small 3-0 lead, but they responded in their half of the inning with a pair scored on an error and a sac fly by Sandlin — her third RBI of the game.
Ellenberg entered the pitching circle in the fourth in place of Kasey Klutz and retired the side. But in the fifth South Lenoir jumped on her with three runs on a wild pitch and three hits, including Meredith Sanderson’s two-run single.
With Madison Beyer keeping the Scorpions’ bats at bay for the final four innings, all in relief, the Blue Devils gave her even more breathing room with three runs on four extra-base hits in the sixth.
A triple by Madison Herring started things off, and was followed by RBI doubles from Mentz, Sandlin and Beyer.
Beyer took over for Sandlin to start the fourth and made sure North Brunswick (11-10) didn’t add to the homer. She struck out four, allowed six hits and worked out of a bases-loaded situation in her first inning of work.
Mentz scored three runs, Beyer went 3-for-4 with two doubles and Sanderson added a pair of singles in South Lenoir’s seventh straight win.
“I’m proud of all of them. They all gave,” Smith said. “They got out there and gave it all they had.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.
N. Brunswick 003 000 0—3 8 2
S. Lenoir 302 033 x—11 11 2
Klutz, Ellenberg (4) and Bordeaux; Sandlin, Beyer (4) and Williams. W—Beyer. L—Klutz. HRs—NB: Ellenberg. SL: none.