Ronnie Battle and the rest of Kinston Post 43 spent Friday enjoying the day off.
After all, it was well earned.
Will Deters was lights out in a spot start, and Ryan Cobb and Dylan Puchalski each homered as Kinston topped host Winsdor Post 37 9-2 on Thursday to take sole possession of second place in the Area I East Division and go 4-1 on its key five-game road trip.
“It was a grueling, tough road swing for sure. We were fortunate to go 4-1,” Battle said. “That speaks volumes of the character and the coming together of this team. I’ll take that anytime.”
Deters got the start in place of scheduled starter Caleb Kearney, who missed the game due to a work conflict, and gave Battle more than he asked for.
Deters, a rising senior at Kinston High, gave up two earned runs on 10 hits, struck out seven and walked none in the complete-game win for his first victory and start of the season.
The right-hander only ran a full count to one batter after the sixth inning.
“I needed it. There’s no doubt I needed it. I needed it bad,” said Battle, whose pitching staff was taxed after playing three games in the previous two days.
“It was a big lift, a shot in the arm that got us up off the mat.”
Cobb went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, scored four runs, walked twice and stole a base, and Puchalski went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and added another two-run shot.
Brett Davis also went 2-for-5 in Post 43’s fourth game in three days.
Kinston (9-4, 6-2) was able to gather itself after falling 7-1 at Wilson Post 13 on Wednesday. In that game Post 43 committed five errors. On Thursday, it played perfect defense.
The loss came a day after the team went to Mount Olive and swept Wayne County Post 11 in a pair of seven-inning games.
Battle felt going into the game at Wilson there could be the possibility of a letdown after seeing how hard his team played the night before.
“In baseball sometimes there’s peaks and valleys, ups and downs, and we had a valley we couldn’t get out of,” he said.
But the team, which travels to Albemarle-Elizabeth City Post 84 on Sunday, rallied back on Thursday to salvage the road trip.
“They had enough strength and enough courage to get back up (for Windsor),” Battle said. “They were ready to go last night. Played like game busters.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.
