Dalen Thompson got a save for the Hawks on Friday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Triton took a pair of varsity diamond wins over visiting Tri-County Six 3-A Conference opponent Southern Lee on Friday night, winning in both baseball and softball. The Cavaliers’ lone varsity win came in a shootout in girls soccer.
“I wanted to score four runs an inning, but it is what it is,” said Triton softball coach Mark Whitman. “We hit the ball well. First couple of innings, they did what I asked them to do. They hit the ball hard. I think for the most part, we put the ball in play. I thought for the most part good defense. We’ve just got to keep trucking along and keep getting better every game.”
Triton’s softball team improved to 2-0 in conference play by topping Southern Lee 11-1 in six innings, taking a season sweep over the Cavaliers.
Junior Caroline Marshall pitched the complete game win for the Hawks (6-2, 2-0 TCSC), yielding one earned run on four hits and one walk, with six strikeouts.
“Caroline did a great job on the mound,” Whitman said. “Had a lot of quick innings and didn’t throw a lot of pitches. She was hitting her spots tonight.”
Senior Alexis Howard was a single shy of hitting for the cycle, going 3-for-4 at the plate, including a double, triple and a home run, with three RBIs and two runs scored. Freshman Reagan Bradham had two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored. Senior Tatiana Muniz had two hits and two runs scored for Triton.
“I thought Rabbit (Howard) had a good night hitting,” Whitman said. “I thought she was going to hit for the cycle, but she just got a little impatient on that last pitch. Reagan, again, lights out hitting the ball. Tatiana had a good night. When Tatiana gets on, we roll.
Ella Layn had one hit and three RBIs. Mackenzie Reid had a double and one RBI. Kaila Cooney had a triple and two runs scored. Gracyn Slaughter had one RBI and one run scored. Tristan Ennis scored once.
“Everybody at least put the bat on the ball tonight,” Whitman said. “We hit it 1-9 again tonight.”
Mackenzie Deck had one hit and one RBI, Joelle Blakley had one hit and one run scored and Kelcee Ayers and Lexi Patterson had one hit apiece for the Cavaliers (1-6, 0-2).
Triton sent the entire order to the plate in the first two innings, scoring four runs apiece. Howard delivered two hits, three RBIs and three runs scored in those two innings, including a two-run home run to left field in the second inning.
Triton added another run in the third when Howard tripled and scored on a wild pitch.
Blakley ended Marshall’s no-hit bit with a two-out single in the fourth, advanced on a base hit from Ayers and scored on a base hit from Deck, but Deck was tagged out trying to take second on the throw home.
Cooney tripled to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Brittany Ireland and Slaughter each drew walks to load the bases with no outs. Bradham followed with a hard ground ball to left field to score Cooney and Ennis, running for Ireland, to end the game on the 10-run rule.
Triton rallied with four runs in the sixth inning to beat Southern Lee 4-3 on the baseball field, avenging a loss at Southern Lee from Tuesday.
“It’s a huge win,” said Triton baseball coach Joey Miriello. “The best complete game we’ve played all year. We got big hits when we needed them, had a great day on the mound, played lights out defense. I’m just very pleased overall.
“The main thing is they didn’t give up. I attribute that to great senior leadership. We stayed up in the dugout when we got down 3-0. Nobody’s heads were hanging. We had been hitting the ball hard all night. We knew we were capable of hitting what they had on the mound, we just couldn’t seem to get the big hit when we needed it. That last inning, we came up with some huge hits.”
Starter Ethan Hedgepeth was the winning pitcher for the Hawks (5-3, 1-1). In six innings, the junior gave up three earned runs on five hits, four walks and one hit batter, with one strikeout. Sophomore Dalen Thompson pitched the seventh inning to earn the save, allowing no runs on no hits and one walk, with two strikeouts.
“Ethan’s been doing a great job on the mound all year for us,” Miriello said. “He has really stepped up. I don’t think he was satisfied with his year last year and I think he kind of took it personal to come out this year and be the type of player we knew he could be. He has stepped up on the mound in some big games for us.
“Dalen came in, in a pressure situation, hadn’t pitched since eighth grade. We’ve been throwing some pens with him at practice and I thought tonight was a good time to be able to throw him, just from what I’ve seen him do at practice. He’s a good a live arm and a good breaking ball. He stepped up there, nerves of steel, and got the job done.”
Junior Caleb Cross was the pitcher of record for the Cavaliers (5-2, 1-1), yielding three earned runs on five hits, one walk and one hit batter, with three strikeouts over five innings.
Senior Colton Neighbors had two hits and one run scored to lead Triton at the plate.
Thompson and Greg Godwin each had one hit and one run scored. Hedgepeth had one hit. Bert Strickland scored once.
Cross had one hit and one RBI, Dean Carver, Ethan Roth and Cole McBurnett each had one hit and one run scored, Carson Grant had one hit and Luke Craig and Thomas Harrington had one RBI apiece for Southern Lee.
After Southern Lee plated two runs in the third inning and one in the fifth to take a 3-0 lead, Triton scored four runs in the sixth inning to lead 4-3.
“I think the guys knew we could hit it, because we stung him all night,” Miriello said. “We were just hitting in right at people. We stayed up mentally and got the big hits when it mattered.”
Drew Bryan drew a two-out walk for Southern Lee in the bottom of the seventh, but Thompson rallied with a strikeout to end the game.
Triton battled Southern Lee all the way down to the end in girls’ soccer, but after overtime ended in a scoreless tie, the Cavaliers edged the Hawks 5-4 in a shootout.
“I thought the last 10 minutes of regulation, we were the better team,” said Triton soccer coach Brian Foster. “We didn’t squeeze one in when we had a couple of chances. We carried a very good team, a very strong team that I feel like is probably going to end up second place in conference, all the way into a shootout and carried them into two shootouts, technically. You had 10 kickers taking PKs at the end of the game, that’s about all you can ask. And my goal keeper (Peyton Briggs) played amazing in the goal. Defense played great. We had more chances this game than we did the entire last game against them. It’s going to be a good season, I can feel it.”
Foster felt like, in spite of the loss, playing so competitively against the Cavaliers was a good sign from his young team (Triton only has five seniors).
“They don’t feel like they lost,” Foster said. “That’s one of the good things about a young team. They know they played hard enough to win. They know they deserved to win. In a lot of ways, they feel like they did win. They know that’s a good team. They competed with them. I told them after the game Tuesday, that they way that they played, I was more proud of them losing that game Tuesday than I was after winning at Midway the night before. They carried that into tonight, came out and did what they needed to do. They gave themselves some opportunities, but didn’t quite pull them off.”
Triton drops to 3-2-1 overall and 0-2 in conference play and Southern Lee improves to 2-4 overall and 2-0 in league play.
The shootout came all the way down to the 10th shot, which Southern Lee made to win the game.
Daughtry Williams, Carleigh Parker, Elizabeth Lopez and Wendy Campos each made their shots for Triton in the shootout. After shutting out the Cavaliers in regulation and overtime, sophomore Peyton Briggs made five stops in the shootout.
Southern Lee travels to conference opponent Harnett Central on Tuesday.
Triton’s softball team is at home against non-conference Corinth Holders on Monday. Baseball and softball host conference and Harnett County rival Western Harnett Tuesday (soccer will not play because Foster will be chaperoning a school trip). All three sports travel to Western Harnett on Friday.
Tatiana Muniz bunts her way aboard for Triton in an 11-1 softball win.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Alexis Howard connects for a 2-run homer for the Hawks.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Hawks second baseman Reagan Bradham makes a catch for an out.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Ella Layn snares a fly ball in right field for Triton on Friday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Tristan Ennis comes home with the game-ending run.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Gracie Byrd intercepts a Southern Lee pass with a header.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Daughtry Williams strikes for Triton in the shootout.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Carleigh Parker shoots during the penalty-kick phase.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Triton keeper Peyton Briggs makes a stop in the shootout.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Elizabeth Lopez gets a turn in the shootout for the Hawks.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Triton catcher Grayson Bradham confers with Dalen Thompson.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
