Triton took a pair of varsity diamond wins in baseball and softball on the road at Harnett County and Tri-County Six 3-A Conference rival Western Harnett on Friday. Western won the girls soccer game in a shootout.

Two nights after Triton dropped a two-hit baseball shutout at home against Western Harnett, senior Colton Neighbors scored on an error in the top of the seventh to lift the Hawks to a 3-2 win to split the regular season series with Western.

“Very pleased with what we did tonight as a whole,” said Triton baseball coach Joey Miriello. “It started on the mound. Ethan Hedgepeth, once again, stepped up and did a phenomenal job on the mound. We’re not in that situation if it wasn’t for him. We swung the bats just well enough against a quality pitcher to produce some runs. We executed well tonight. We ran the bases aggressively, and that’s what I think ultimately helped us win the ball game. In my opinion, that’s the best baseball team we’ll play all year. So, for us to come out here and win, I’m pleased.”

Western Harnett baseball coach Dalton Hardee cited costly mistakes as the key factor in the loss.

“Mistakes hurt us all throughout the game,” Hardee said. “We gave them too much and when you give teams opportunities and they take advantage of them, it makes it harder for yourself. We played well last night against Terry Sanford (Western won 8-7 in eight innings) and didn’t have any errors. Then tonight, we just didn’t field it very well.”

Hardee didn’t think Friday’s game being the third in three days played a factor in the loss.

“For most teams I would say, ‘Yes,’” Hardee said. “But not this team. This team’s tough. They would rather play five days a week if they could.”

Junior right-hander Ethan Hedgepeth went the distance on the mound to take the win for the Hawks (6-4, 2-2 TCSC), giving up two earned runs on six hits and two walks, with eight strikeouts.

Senior starter Collin Welch was the pitcher of record for the Eagles (8-3, 2-2), yielding two earned runs on six hits and two walks, with eight strikeouts, across six and two-thirds innings. Senior Dustin Lund pitched one-third of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits and one walk.

Neighbors had two hits, including a double, and two runs scored, junior Grayson Bradham had two hits and two RBIs, Parker Crews and Christian Tyndall had one hit apiece and Dalen Thompson scored once for Triton.

Bradley Wilson had two hits and one run scored, Welch had a double and two RBIs, Chase Holder had one hit and one run scored and Lund and Caleb Scott had one hit apiece.

Thompson scored in the top of the third to give Triton the early lead, but Welch put Western in front with a double that scored Holder and Wilson in the bottom of the third inning.

Neighbors scored in the top of the fifth to tie the game.

In the top of the seventh, Neighbors reached on a base hit, stole second and third. An errant throw when he stole third allowed him to come home for the go-ahead run.

If Colton can get on base, he wreaks havoc,” Miriello said. “He’s not only lightning-fast, he’s also a good base runner. And that’s two totally different things. You can be fast all day, but if you don’t know how to run the bases, it’s two totally different ends of the spectrum.”

With two out in the bottom of the seventh, Noah Kessler reached base on an error by Triton second baseman Bert Strickland. With the encouragement of his teammates, he quickly rallied and responded by throwing Kessler out at second on a fielder’s choice on the ensuing play to end the game.

“They hang out with each other off the field,” Miriello said. “They take up for each other when one of them struggles. I think sometimes they want to win for each other and in this day and time, that’s few and far between. These guys really pull for each other and really want each other to succeed and that was evident tonight.”

Triton took a 16-2 win in five innings over Western Harnett in softball.

“I kind of knew it was going to be a lull tonight,” said Triton softball coach Mark Whitman. “I tried to keep them pumped up. We had a slow start. They came out ready to play tonight, as well, and we just weren’t patient at the bat the first couple of innings. We finally settled in and hit the ball well 1-9. Tyler Grace (Gamblin) had a great night tonight and the people who were hitting it are still hitting it. We just did what we needed to do tonight.”

Western Harnett softball coach Stephen Hales saw improvement in his young team from Wednesday’s game at Triton to Friday’s game at home.

“We’re still learning to play and it’s going to be a learning process the whole season,” Hales said. “They played well tonight and I couldn’t ask for any better. We hit the ball to start with and scored some runs and put a little pressure on them. But they just hit the ball 1-9. They don’t give you any outs. Unfortunately, we made a few errors in the wrong spot in the lineup and made some walks in the wrong spot in the lineup and their three and four hitters did some damage.”

Junior Caroline Marshall pitched all five innings for the Hawks (9-2, 4-0), giving up two earned runs on three hits, one walk and a hit batter, with four strikeouts.

“She had one tough inning, but she finally settled in and pitched well,” Whitman said.

Junior Tyler Grace Gamblin had three hits, two RBIs and two runs scored, senior Alexis Howard had three hits, one RBI and three runs scored and junior Mackenzie Reid had two doubles, four RBIs and two runs scored to lead Triton offensively.

Kaila Cooney had two doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored. Brittany Ireland had two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored. Reagan Bradham had a double, two RBIs and one run scored. Tatiana Muniz had two hits and one RBI. Gracyn Slaughter had two hits and two runs scored. Ella Layn had one hit and one run scored. Mikaylee Flowers had one hit.

Mackinley Melby had one hit and two RBIs, Shelby Duty and Madison Farmer had one hit apiece and Jashani McDougald and Laniyah Bethea scored one run apiece for the Eagles (0-7, 0-4).

Triton scored two runs in the first inning, nine in the third, two in the fourth and three in the fifth.

Both of Western’s runs came in the bottom of the second on a base hit from Melby that brought McDougald and Bethea home.

After the teams played to a 1-1 tie at the end of overtime, Western Harnett edged Triton 3-2 in a shootout to take its first conference girls soccer win of the season.

“I’m so proud of them,” said first-year Western Harnett girls soccer coach Lauren Tidwell. “We are a brand new team. We have a lot of freshmen on our team and two brand new coaches. So, we were very excited and very proud of all the work that they have done. We’re really trying to build and improve them and they’re doing a great job keeping up with the pace.”

Freshman Makenyia Mackey scored the lone goal in regulation for the Eagles (3-4, 1-2).

Freshman Carleigh Parker scored the lone goal in regulation for the Hawks (3-4-1, 0-3) on an assist from freshman Gracie Byrd.

The shootout went all the way through the 10-shooter selection and came down to the final shot for each team.

Senior Tara Hogue buried her shot to give the Eagles the advantage and freshman goal keeper Carolina Simpkins stopped Triton’s final attempt to give the Eagles the win.

Mackey and freshman Sarahit Martinez also made their shots in the shootout for Western. Simpkins made eight saves in the shootout.

Triton sophomore goal keeper Peyton Briggs made seven saves in the shootout.

Western Harnett’s baseball team and softball teams are at home against non-conference Northwood on Saturday. Western travels to conference foe Southern Lee for baseball, softball and girls soccer on Tuesday.

Triton travels to conference opponent Lee County for baseball, softball and girls soccer on Tuesday.