Hobbton teams advance

The Carolina 1A Conference baseball and softball tournaments got underway on Monday night out at Hobbton High School. In the first round over on the softball field, Lakewood and Hobbton tangled while the Wildcat boys took on Union. Both the home teams earned wins in what would also be their Senior Night games and advanced to Tuesday’s second round games.

Softball

In a thriller, home team Hobbton came used a bottom of the ninth inning rally to overcome a one-run deficit and take a 9-8 win to advance to Tuesday’s second round game at Rosewood.

Lakewood drew first blood in the top of the first inning, taking a quick 1-0 lead. Danica Carter drew a walk and later stole second and third bases before a wild pitch allowed her to score from third.

The Lady Wildcats generated an opportunity in the bottom of the inning, but runners were stranded at second and third, preserving the Lakewood 1-0 lead.

Hobbton was poised to get that run and more back in the bottom of the second inning, but their wheels quickly ran off and they squandered the opportunity. Zanna Hairr got a lead off hit to reach third and Madison Sinclair was hit by a pitch, putting two runners aboard. Sinclair stole second, getting runners in scoring position with no outs. Two strikeouts and an interference call against Sinclair produced three consecutive outs to strand Hairr at third.

They reloaded and tried again in the bottom of the third and, this time, found success. The Lady Wildcats got started with a hit by Graci Barefoot into center field. Hairr followed suit with a walk and a ground ball that went for an error sent by Kaitlyn Rodriguez scored both runners, propelling Hobbton into to the least at 2-1. Then, a sacrifice infield ground ball scored Rodriguez, making it 3-1 Hobbton. Later, Miley McLamb got aboard on a hit and a succession of steals and wild pitches moved her around for another score and a 4-1 lead.

The Lady Leopards, though down, weren’t out. With the game moving into the fifth inning, Lakewood made things interesting. Alyssa Faircloth and Kenley Cannady each got aboard and worked their way around the bases for the Lady Leopards and managed to get across home plate to tighten the game up again at 4-3.

Hobbton stranded runners in the bottom of the the fifth to be held scoreless while Lakewood also failed to score again in the top of the sixth, keeping that same 4-3 score as the game reached the bottom of the sixth inning.

There, the Lady Wildcats tacked on an insurance run, plating Clair Meyer to take a 5-3 lead into the top of the seventh.

That’s where the Lady Leopards pulled off some late-game heroics. They mounted a furious rally and produced their most successful offensive inning of the game. It started when Caitlyn Bass drew a walk and stole second. Two batters later, Brennyn Rouse joined Bass aboard the bases and each later scored to jolt Lakewood to a tied up ballgame at 5-5. Before the end of the inning, Danica Carter got a 2-out hit and stole second. Before Hobbton could get the final out, Carter advanced home on a succession of bad pitches and put the Lady Leopards ahead at 6-5.

Hobbton, though, had an answer. McKenna Thornton led the inning off with a hit to get the Lady Wildcats going. A sacrifice by Barefoot and a hit by Hairr combined to score Thornton, tying the game up at 6-6 to send it into extra innings.

There, Lakewood took the lead again at 7-6 in the top of the ninth, but in the bottom of the inning, Hobbton stole the victory by answering with a pair of runs to capture the 9-8 win.

With the win, the Lady Wildcats are now 3-14 on the season. They advanced to Tuesday’s second round matchup at Rosewood.

For Lakewood, they likely conclude their season at 1-16.

Baseball

Over on the baseball field, the game was never really close. Defensively, it was a struggle for Union as one-by-one the Hobbton batters either got big hits, were walked, or were hit by pitches.

After the Wildcats quickly dispatched the Spartan batters in the top of the first inning, they settled in for a long at-bat in the bottom of the inning. Hobbton batted around and then some as nine runs were scored in the first inning, quickly blowing the game wide open.

After Union failed to threaten in the top of second, the Wildcats again settled in for another long at bat. This time, they tacked on seven runs to make it 16-0 and the game moved into the third inning.

The Spartans found a little more success in getting on base and moving a couple runners into scoring position, but Hobbton’s defense stepped up and ended the threat with no runs scored.

As a result, the game was over after just two and half innings and a 16-0 final.

With the win, Hobbton is 12-8 overall and advances to Tuesday’s second round at Rosewood. The Wildcats were slated to take on North Duplin.

For Union, their season likely concludes at 0-15.