| SCHS drops 2-1 heartbreaker to South Lenoir powerhouse
DEEP RUN - The South Columbus Stallions came within a strike of pulling off a second-round upset in the state 2A playoffs Friday night. However, a single by South Lenoir’s Adam Newman in the bottom of the seventh inning brought in the game-deciding runs as the East Central Conference champion Blue Devils pulled out a 2-1 victory. Newman redeemed himself on a fielding miscue in the first inning when he misplayed a pop-up by South Columbus’ Bryant Edwards near the rightfield foul line. The two-out error allowed Buster James to score the Stallion run. The Stallions of Coach Willie Gore held South Lenoir scoreless through six innings behind the sidearm pitching of senior Dusty Duncan. Duncan was relieved by Ethan Ward in the sixth inning with one out and two runners on base with walks. Ward struck out a batter before issuing a walk to Chris Justice on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. South Lenoir, which put its season record at 20-2, was held to three hits. Brad Jones was the winning pitcher for the Blue Devils, as he struck out nine batters, allowed three hits and did now walk a batter. “I don’t think we could have played much better as far as pitching and defensive-wise,” said South Columbus coach Willie Gore in an interview with the Kinston Free Press. “When you hold a team like (South Lenoir) to two runs into the seventh, you’ve done a pretty good job. “ Duncan, who really came on strong for South Columbus in Waccamaw Conference play this season, kept the Blue Devil order in check most of the way, forcing numerous ground ball outs. South Columbus closed its season with a 17-7 record, including a tie for runnerup in the Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference. Coach Gore said that while losing in the final inning with two outs to a strong team was disappointing, he was pleased with his team’s efforts and looks forward the return of most of the Stallion players next year.
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