Southside steamrolls Kinston in first game

KINSTON — Southside lit up Kinston for seven runs in the sixth inning of Tuesday’s season opener. The Seahawks had already scored in the second, third and fourth innings, but exploded late to force an early conclusion.

Hunter Sparks led the way with three RBI. Demetrius Ebron batted in a pair of runs, too. Cody Modlin and Christian Brinkley each scored twice.

Paul Radford started on the mound. He rolled through five frames in which he only conceded a hit and two walks, all while striking out five batters. Dahlton O’Neal took over for the last inning and notched a strikeout.

The Seahawks only had six hits in the game. They were patient at the plate to draw 13 walks from Kinston’s pitchers and capitalized on five errors.

Southside will play its first game at home when it hosts South Creek on Friday.

 

Lady Seahawks soar past Kinston

KINSTON — Gracie Warren hit a grand slam, and Symone Ruffin also cleared the fences as Southside torched Kinston, 17-0, in its season opener on Tuesday.

Seven Lady Seahawk batters had hits in the game. Maggie Craig had three, scoring two runs and batting in two more, and three others each had two. Southside was able to use its power to score early and often. In addition to the two homers, Craig had a double and two triples, and Rachel Buck had a triple.

Southside came out firing with five runs in the top of the first. After scoring another in the second, the Lady Seahawks went off for 11 in the third.

Sophomore pitcher Alyssa McLawhorn fanned nine in four innings of work. Freshman Mallory Nobles had a strike out, too, as she concluded the game.

 

Northside rolls over South Creek

PINETOWN — Northside owned a 3-0 lead going into the sixth inning before scoring seven in the final two frames in a runaway win over South Creek, 10-0.

Five Panthers had hits in the landslide win that opened the season. James Barrow led the way with a 2-for-4 showing at the plate. Justin Boseman, Reg Bishop and Ethan Cosentino each had doubles. The power helped Boseman and Bishop collect a pair of RBI each. Parker Boyd and Barrow each batted in a run, too.

Northside’s pitchers came ready to play. Zach Griffin toed the rubber to begin the game. He flew through four innings, striking out nine. Zach Woolard was handed the ball for the last three innings. He fanned seven.

 

Lady Panthers thrash South Creek

PINETOWN — Northside scored five runs in the second inning and didn’t look back in Tuesday’s season-opening 12-4 win over South Creek. The visiting Lady Cougars responded with two of their own in the frame, but couldn’t keep up as the hosts scored in the third, fourth, fifth and seventh innings, too.

Rylie Newman and Kaitlyn Spain each had three hits, combining for seven RBI and three runs. Whitney Cromwell and Emori Smith had multiple hits, too. Northside was aggressive on the bases as it went 7-for-7 on its stolen-base attempts.

The Lady Panthers weren’t perfect, defensively, in their first outing. They had five errors in the field, but had more than enough offensive support to overcome it.

Rachel Lang pitched a complete game in the first outing of her senior campaign. She was only charged with one of the four runs Northside conceded, and struck out eight South Creek batters.