When Father’s Day was over Kinston Post 43 sat in a three-way tie atop the Area I East Division, but it knows it should be all alone in first.
Last week’s late defensive meltdown may have given away a sure win to Pitt County Post 39 and to this point may define Post 43’s season. But this week can make or break its season completely.
Kinston (6-3, 3-1), which is tied in the loss column in league play with Rocky Mount Post 58 and Wayne County Post 11, will face Post 11 in a seven-inning doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m. today at Scarborough Field on the campus of Mount Olive College.
The twinbill will be Games 2 and 3 of a six-game stretch of consecutive road tilts.
“I think this week is going to be the most important week of our schedule,” Kinston manager Ronnie Battle said. “If we can play well these next few ballgames and get by them it will give us a nice toehold on where we want to be.”
Where Post 43 wants to be is at the top — alone.
Save for a handful of errors, it should be.
Its 8-7 loss to Post 39 a week ago today is what is keeping Post 43 from holding that top spot by itself. Kinston committed an uncharacteristic seven errors, four in the final three innings which ultimately decided the outcome in a game that Kinston led 7-4 heading into the seventh.
Two nights later against Wayne County Battle opted to start the same lineup as he ended with against Pitt County, he said. He was hoping to give his players who were on the field in the loss a second chance, but Mother Nature won and thus today’s doubleheader.
When Kinston did get back to work on Friday against Ahoskie Post 102, it did so with a resolve to make up for the debacle against Pitt County. Matt Hinson fanned 10 in the 5-1 win, then Caleb Kearney backed up Hinson’s performance with a 14-strikeout outing at Ahoskie on Saturday in a 16-3, eight-inning shellacking.
Heading into tonight’s double-dip, Post 43 appears to be in the right place after back-to-back wins.
“I don’t think it’s haunting us but we learned a lesson that you can’t make seven errors and expect to win a baseball game,” first baseman Garrett Holland said. “Since then we’ve been playing good, fundamental baseball.”
“They knew that they blew that ballgame. They were all happy and upbeat and ready to go (against Ahoskie),” Battle added. “I think that’s something that’s going to be on our minds for the rest of the season, too.”
Now that Kinston seems to have put its lone division loss behind it — or at least the fact that it happened — next is the issue of struggling on the road.
Of its nine games thus far, six have been held at the friendly, spacious confines of Post 43’s home park — Kinston High’s Viking Field. The team is 1-2 on the road.
That statistic has Battle a wee bit concerned. But he’s staying optimistic.
“It does concern me. Not necessarily because it would give the opponents the home-field advantage, but the fact that we have not played well (on the road),” Battle said. “I don’t know if we’re not as focused as we should be or what. We’ve made a few more errors on the road that have led to the non-winning method that we have.
“I do have some optimism, though. We’re getting used to playing with each other and getting used to playing this type of schedule.”
At Ahoskie Saturday night Ryan Cobb went 3-for-5, scored twice and drove in two runs. Dylan Puchalski was 2-for-5, scored three runs, had three RBIs, a double and hit a two-run home run. And Will Deters went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs for Post 43.
Kearney gave up four this, walked two and allowed three earned runs on 111 pitches.
Post 43 scored 11 total runs in the fourth and eighth innings on just three hits. It was walked 11 times.
“Ahoskie was a much-improved team from what we’ve played them in the past. They just were not able to sustain what they had throughout the ballgame,” said Battle, whose team was held in a 0-0 deadlock until the fourth inning.
“We took advantage of the things that they gave us.”
While Kinston, Rocky Mount and Wayne County all share the division lead with one league loss apiece, Post 11 has staked itself to the lead in percentage points.
Post 11 is 12-2 overall, 6-1 in Area I East play following Monday night's 4-3 win over Wilson Post 13. But Battle isn’t concerned about that. He’s only concerned with coming back to Kinston with a pair of wins.
“(It’s a big night) not only for Kinston, but also for Wayne County,” he said. “The key thing is to come back with two victories.”
Notes: Kinston’s postponed early-season doubleheader with Edenton Post 40 has been rescheduled for July 2. Last week’s postponed contest at Rocky Mount has not yet been rescheduled. … After today’s doubleheader Post 43 travels to Wilson Post 13 on Wednesday, Windsor Post 37 on Thursday and goes to Albemarle-Elizabeth City Post 84 on Sunday.
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.