The Lakewood Leopards hosted the Cougars of Neuse Charter on Thursday night in Carolina 1A Conference Baseball action. It was all Lakewood in this one as the Leopards cruised to a 10-0 victory in five innings.
After a scoreless first inning, Lakewood got things rolling in the bottom of the second. Devin Rosenberger led the inning off with a double to center field followed by Toby Spell getting aboard after being hit by a pitch. Two batters later, Lakewood loaded the bases after Tyler Poole drew a one out walk. The next Leopard batter, Chandler Ray, drove single into right field, scoring Rosenberger. Zach Tanner then cleared the bases, sending a shot into center where a fielding error resulted in Tanner getting all the way around for four more runs. Neuse Charter ended the inning with no further damage, but quite a bit had already been done with Lakwood now in control 5-0.
Lakewood tacked on to their lead in the bottom of the third inning. Jeremy Sessoms and Rosenberger both safely got aboard to begin the inning. Two batters later, Shawn Andrew sliced a sharp line drive that landed just fair down the left field line. Sessoms and Rosenberger scored, but Andrew was tagged out at third after his momentum caused him to come off the bag. The inning would end with Lakewood now leading 7-0.
Lakewood scored their final three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning as Tanner, Josh Carter, and Matt Butler all three crossed the plate to increase the Leopards lead to 10-0.
Coach Jay Faircloth was pleased with his teams performance.
“We hit the ball well tonight and didn’t have any errors. They worked hard and I’m proud of them,” Coach Faircloth commented.
He also praised his pitcher, Chandler Ray, saying “He pitched another masterpiece on the mound tonight.”
Ray went the distance on the mound for Lakewood, pitching five innings, allowing no runs on two hits and recording six strikeouts.
Offensively for Lakewood, Rosenberger had a strong night at the plate, going three for three. Tanner was two for three with three RBIs. Butler went two for three and Andrew was one for two with two RBIs.
Lakewood has two games remaining. They travel to Princeton on Tuesday night before returning home next Friday for Senior Night against Hobbton. Both games are set to begin at 6:30 p.m.