Anthony Jones gets a base hit for the Hawks on Thursday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

An offensive surge in the middle innings powered Triton to a 9-4 varsity baseball win over visiting rival South Johnston on Thursday.

“They really fought through that first part of the ball game,” said Triton coach Jacob Willis. “That’s one thing we talked about after having a couple of big wins last week: Carrying that fight and working through the whole ball game. We really showed some fight there in those middle innings to make sure there weren’t any lulls and just kept going.”

South Johnston coach Aaron Parnell said the Trojans did not do enough to follow up on a good start.

“I think we got very complacent,” Parnell said. “We got the early lead. I think we thought we were going to cruise through this thing. Tonight, I think is the first time we saw some youth show. Not just in our age, but, I think, in our maturity. I think we should have come out and kept putting pressure on them and kept trying to score runs. And then when we had opportunities, they shut them down. I think a lot of the competitiveness was missing that we had been showing.”

Senior starter Hayden Pope was the winning pitcher for the Hawks, yielding two earned runs on five hits and three walks, with seven strikeouts, across four innings of work. Sophomore Braxton Davis pitched three innings of relief to record the save, giving up no runs on one hit and two walks, with five strikeouts.

Junior Ross Stevens had two hits, including a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored for the Hawks, Davis had two hits, including a double, one RBI and one run scored as Triton improved to 4-0.

Anthony Jones and Wyatt Avery each had two hits and one RBI. Jackson Lanier had two hits and one run scored. Jalen Evans had a double, two RBIs and one run scored. William Meredith had one hit, one RBI and one run scored. Xander Johnson had one hit and two runs scored. Kenneth McKoy scored once.

Junior Luke Norris had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs and junior Evan Barefoot had two hits and one run scored to lead the Trojans (1-2).

Mason Raynor had one hit and one RBI. Carter Johnson had one hit and two runs scored. Braxton Ennis had one hit and one run scored.

After South grabbed the early 2-0 by scoring one run apiece in the second and third innings, Triton scored two runs in the third inning to tie the game and three in the fourth to take the lead.

South cut the lead to one with a pair of runs in the fifth inning, but Triton later responded with four runs in the sixth inning.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but I do very much like the fight in this crowd,” Willis said. “I just hope we continue to get better and keep fighting.

“Everybody’s just got to keep doing their jobs. If everybody does their job, we come out with a W.”

Weather permitting, South Johnston is scheduled to travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C. to face Socastee (0-1) on Saturday.

Evan Barefoot makes a catch for the Trojans in right field.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Triton shortstop Jalen Evans makes a throw to first for an out.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Mason Raynor gets a run-scoring hit for the visitors.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Braxton Ennis heads home on a hit by Mason Raynor.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Ross Stevens gets a hit for Triton in a 9-4 nonconference win.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)