Apart from a brief eighth-inning burst, runs were scarce for Kinston Post 43 Friday at Viking Field.
Post 43 pitcher Matt Hinson didn’t need many anyway.
Hinson, a rising sophomore at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, tossed a four-hit complete-game gem, allowing just one unearned run to go along with 10 strikeouts as Kinston tacked on some runs late to subdue Ahoskie Post 102 5-1 in an Area I East Division contest.
“We call Matt ‘The Professor’ because he’s such a student of pitching,” Kinston manager Ronnie Battle said. “He’s like Greg Maddux. He stays within himself and just dissects hitters.”
Hinson dissected plenty of Post 102 hitters, surrendering harmless singles in the first, third, sixth and seventh innings. He hit one batter and walked two.
Other than the fourth, when Ahoskie scored its lone run without benefit of a hit, the only time Hinson saw trouble was the sixth, when Post 102 (2-5, 2-3) loaded the bases with two down.
Hinson then fanned Stephen Umphlett on four pitches to end the threat.
“It felt nice to be able to complete the game,” an exhausted Hinson said. “I wasn’t thinking about going the distance before the game; I didn’t even think I was throwing that well during warm-ups.”
That changed once the home plate umpire shouted, “play ball!” Half of Hinson’s strikeouts came with the batter looking, the product of a nasty, backdoor slider that got more unhittable as the game progressed.
“My fastball had some movement, but my slider was definitely my best pitch tonight,” Hinson said. “A lot of their left-handed hitters were chasing it out of the strike zone and it was breaking in over the plate against the righties.”
Ahoskie pitcher Umphlett almost matched Hinson pitch for pitch. The left-hander, a recent graduate of Gates County High School, retired the first nine Post 43 batters with nine strike outs.
Finally, in the fourth, Kinston (5-3, 2-1) came to life with three hits, the last of which, a clutch, two-out single by Will Deters, plated two runs.
The hit also snapped an 0-for-17 drought for Deters at the dish.
“I’ve been in a slump so it felt really good to come through at that time, in that situation,” Deters said. “I didn’t want to let my teammates down.”
Deters added another hit — a single to right center leading off the eighth. He eventually came around to score on Sammy West’s RBI base hit. Garrett Holland also drove in a run with a fielder’s choice and a third run tallied on Post 102’s fifth error of the night.
“This was the type of game we thought we’d be playing a lot of before the season — low-scoring, good pitching, exciting,” Battle said. “After two straight losses, it was just what we needed to get back on track.”
The two teams exchange locales today as Kinston visits Ahoskie for a 7:30 p.m. first pitch. Caleb Kearney will be on the hill for Post 43.
Post 102 000 100 000—1 4 5
Post 43 000 020 03x—5 8 2
Umphlett and Rose. Hinson and Davis. W—Hinson. L—Umphlett.