John Howard called them the best hitters in Lenoir County.
After watching his team pound out 19 hits in route to a 20-7 victory, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who would argue otherwise.
The 12-U Kinston-Lenoir County National League All-Stars turned in an all-around effort to beat the New Bern All-Stars in the Cal Ripken District 6 Championship, played at Fairfield Park in Kinston.
All ten starters (an extra hitter in addition to the nine position players) reached base for the Nationals, while seven players had multi-hit games and nine of 10 starters scored at least one run.
Meanwhile, four Kinston-Lenoir pitchers combined to hold New Bern to just three hits over six innings while striking out eight.
“I’m extremely proud of these boys,” Howard said. “You couldn’t ask for a better group of guys. And the parents have been great, too.”
The teams matched one another nearly run-for-run through the first four innings before the last two innings broke the game open for the Nationals. Clinging to a tenuous 10-7 lead going into the fifth inning, Kinston-Lenoir batted around in the inning and scored five runs on four hits. The team, a group of city and county all-stars selected from the area’s 10 recreation league teams, followed up with a monster inning in the sixth, sending 10 batters to the plate in the inning and scored five runs on seven hits.
Centerfielder Peyton Howard certainly made his father proud with a 3-for-4 day at the plate that included a pair of RBIs and four runs scored. Shortstop Luke Suggs also went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs. Malik Dixon, Everett Oliver, Trey McLawhorn, Brendon Grant and Ethan May also registered at least two hits apiece for the hard-hitting National League all-stars.
“I thought we were aggressive at the plate, and we had great base running,” John Howard said.
Oliver started on the mound for Kinston-Lenoir and earned the win with two innings of one-hit ball. Grant Carasquillo, Grant and Suggs made the lead stick with four solid innings of relief, and the trio struck out seven batters. Grant struck out the side in the fifth and had four K’s on the evening.
“We had our best pitchers lined up for today and we had three we couldn’t get to,” Howard said.
With the win, Kinston-Lenoir will play in the state tournament in Roanoke Rapids this weekend.
The championship wraps up a successful week for the Kinston-Lenoir County all-stars. Both the 8-U and 10-U National League all-stars finished second in their respective tournaments, and the 12-U American League all-stars reached the semifinals before being knocked out by New Bern.
Scott Alston, who directed the tournament with Steve Oliver, said hosted the District 6 tournament is a boon for the area.
“It’s great that we can have it here in Kinston and field two teams,” Alston said. “It’s been a blessing also for our local economy, to have visitors and be able to keep some money in town.”
KLC 2 3 3 2 5 5 - 20 19 5
NB 2 0 3 2 0 0 - 7 3 4
Oliver, Carasquillo (3), Grant (5), Suggs (6) and Brock. Hoell, Wood (2), Roach (5), Kiriam (6) and Dudley, Hoell (6). W -- Oliver. L -- Hoell.