DEEP RUN — There was nothing showy or spectacular about South Lenoir’s 6-1 victory over Spring Creek Tuesday in the Eastern Carolina Scholastic Summer League.
Instead, it was a clinic in opportunistic, fundamental baseball.
The Blue Devils (4-5) did all the little things right, committing no errors, belting a couple of sacrifice flies, executing a beautiful hit and run, and stealing four bases without being caught.
They managed just six hits but made up for their lack of production with timing and meticulousness. SL drew three walks from Spring Creek’s pitchers; all three runners eventually scored.
“We took advantage when we had the chance on offense and gave an overall solid effort,” Blue Devils coach David Combs said. “Defensively we made the necessary plays and our pitchers threw strikes and did a great job of keeping their hitters off balance. I’m very pleased.”
SL didn’t need to light up the hitting column because its pitching was so good.
Nick Hunter, Wade Wetherington and Christian Yanez combined to limit the Gators to just three hits, all in the final two innings. The trio also walked one and fanned nine, although they did hit three batters.
Hunter set the tone, striking out the side in the first before leaving with some minor back pain.
“Nick’s okay and probably could have continued, but we’re not taking any chances in summer ball,” Combs said.
Wetherington did the bulk of the heavy lifting, tossing four hitless frames with five whiffs. The only hint of trouble came in the fourth when he nailed consecutive Gators after two were out. A harmless groundout to second by Spring Creek’s Will Rouse ended the inning, however.
“Nick had good stuff, Wade did an outstanding job, and Christian closed the door,” Combs said. “We just have to stop hitting batters and we’ll be fine.”
Hunter also had a nice night at the plate, singling, drawing a walk, scoring a run, and driving in one with a sacrifice fly.
Justin Howard collected two hits and an RBI for the Devils, while Cody Ladich and Jared Puckett also knocked in runs. Noah Stroud had a base hit, two runs scored, and swiped three bases for SL.
SL returns to action Thursday when it visits Eastern Wayne for a 5 p.m. doubleheader.
Spring Creek 000 001 0—1 3 2
South Lenoir 014 010 x—6 6 0
Herring, Miller (6), and Rogers. Hunter, Wetherington (2), Yanez (6), and T. Winfield. W—Wetherington. L—Herring.