Sawyer Sutton was the winning pitcher for Midway on Wednesday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Midway took nonconference varsity wins over visiting East Bladen in baseball and softball on Wednesday night.
Midway’s baseball team got some payback against the team that ended their 2019 season in the second round of the state playoffs by rallying from an early 3-0 deficit to beat East Bladen 13-6.
“We started hitting the ball,” said Midway baseball coach Cory Barnes. “That’s the biggest thing. Timely hits with men on base. That’s a big thing. Way better than in our first game. We’ve done a whole lot of focus in practice on our approach at the plate and the guys are executing.”
Junior starter Sawyer Sutton was the winning pitcher for the Raiders (2-1), yielding three earned runs on two hits and three walks, with five strikeouts in three innings. Senior Cal Tyndall pitched one and one-third innings to earn the save, giving up no runs on no hits and no walks, with two strikeouts. Junior Dawson Wiggins pitched two and two-thirds innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits and one walk, with three strikeouts.
Senior Cameron Barefoot had three hits, one RBI and one run scored. Senior Eli Culbreth had two hits, including a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored. Juniors Colin Avery and Jonathan Cooper each had two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored for Midway.
Will Johnson had one hit, one RBI and two runs scored. Sutton and Drew Matthews each had one hit and one run scored. Tyndall had one RBI. Cameron Calcutt had two runs scored.
Sophomore Ethan Johnson had two hits and three runs scored to lead the Eagles (2-2).
After East Bladen scored two runs in the first inning and one in the third, Midway entered the bottom of the third trailing 3-0, but after the bats came to life in a big way, left the third holding an 8-3 lead.
“Once you start hitting the ball, you start stringing hits together and it kind of gets contagious,” Barnes said. “We were being a little aggressive on the base paths, too. Trying to put pressure on them. That helped us a lot, I think.”
The Eagles scored two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to cut the lead to 8-6, but Midway responded with another big inning in the sixth, putting five more runs on the board.
A strong start led Midway’s softball team to a 9-2 win over East Bladen to snap a two-game skid.
“We had a couple of really tough ones on the road,” said Midway softball coach Susan Clark. “It hurt us mentally, but we had a really good practice yesterday and worked on some things. We made a couple of changes defensively and we’re trying to work in a little extra pitching so that we’re not riding solely on one. That was our game plan tonight. We switched up our defense just a touch and brought in our second pitcher just to kind of give her some experience for the longevity of this season, and not just this game.”
Junior starter Miranda Holmes was the winning pitcher for the Raiders (2-2), giving up one earned run on two hits and no walks, with five strikeouts. Junior Chloe Baggett pitched three innings of relief, yielding one earned run on no hits, two walks and one hit batter, with five strikeouts.
Junior Jega Dapuyen had three hits, including a double, one RBI and two runs scored and senior Caitlyn Holland had two hits, including a double, one RBI and two runs scored to lead Midway at the plate.
Baggett and Lainey Hughes each had two hits, including a double, one RBI and one run scored. Sydney Williams had one hit and three RBIs. Emma Clark had a double. Holmes, Rylie Williams and Bella Bryant scored one run apiece.
“We’ve been working on (hitting) a lot in practice and in the cage when we couldn’t get on the field,” coach Clark said. “We’ve had a lot of opportunity to practice with the bat.”
Junior Kayleigh Raynor had one hit and two runs scored and freshman Laura Davisson had one hit for the Eagles (0-3).
The Eagles jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first innings, but the Raiders responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good.
Midway added one more run in the second and five more runs in the third to extend the lead to 9-1.
East Bladen’s last run came in the top of the sixth.
Midway is at home on Friday night against Sampson County rival Lakewood. It is the last game before Midway starts East Central 2-A Conference play at James Kenan on Tuesday night.
Second baseman Colin Avery throws to Cameron Calcutt for an out.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Cal Tyndall got a save fpr the Raiders against East Bladen.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Midway third baseman Eli Culbreth makes a tag for an out on s steal.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Will Johnson drives in a run for the Raiders with a base hit.
Lainey Hughes scores on a wild pitch for Midway on Wednesday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Jega Dapuyen gets an RBI for the Raiders in a 9-2 win.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Midway’s Caitlyn Holland connects for a run-scoring double.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Winning pitcher Miranda Holmes delivers for Midway.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Rylie Williams throws to first from third for the Raiders.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
