The special night started off with the noises of rumbling Harleys throughout Dobson as each senior made a grand entrance on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Though it was entertaining and moving for coaches, players and fans, a win was really the only true way for the night to be deemed a success.
North Stokes scored first with a run in the top of the fourth, as both teams were held scoreless for the first few innings.
It was the sixth inning where Laken Weaver led off with a triple. Lauren Key got a base hit to drive her in, and then Whitney Joyner came through with a double to drive Key in.
The Eagles didn’t hold the 2-1 lead for long as North Stokes answered with a run in the top of the seventh to knot the score at two apiece.
In the bottom of the seventh, Jennifer Coe got a base hit, and advanced to second off a Jessica Creed sacrifice bunt. Coe advanced to third on a passed ball, and it’s Weaver who came through again with an RBI single to drive in the winning run.
It was a fitting regular season ending for the powerful Weaver.
“Laken kind of done it all because she helped make the posters, signs and the decorations for senior night and then come time to play ball going 3-3 with a game-winning RBI,” Surry Central coach Glen Craddock said. “She was just tickled to death, and it’s a good thing they go out with a win as seniors.”
Defensively, the Eagles only had one error and kept North Stokes in check all night, while the offense tried to break through.
“We had several hits, but just couldn’t string them together consecutively to drive in some runs, but eventually we are able to pull it around,” Craddock said. “It was a tight ballgame, and I know it was pretty exciting for the fans, but it was hectic for me.”
It’s unusual for a team to have nine seniors, all playing different positions with important roles on a team, but Craddock said he isn’t concerned about next year.
“Next year we’ve got a lot of talent coming up from JV that can step right in,” he said.
But it’s not next year yet, and Surry Central still has the conference tournament to think about. Seedings aren’t finalized yet, and the Golden Eagles aren’t sure who they will be playing, but Craddock said his team will be ready.
Surry Central 3, North Stokes 2
NSt: 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 - 2 6 0
SC: 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 - 3 8 1
WP: Jessica Creed
LP: Brandie Hole
2B — SC: Whitney Joyner; NSt: Boyles
3B — SC: Laken Weaver
East Surry wins big
KING — East Surry began its season with a loss at home to West Stokes, and ended its season Friday avenging that loss with a 10-6 win in King.
When asked what was the difference maker, East Surry coach Barry Hall said a lot changes in a season.
“Normally, as the weather warms up, we start hitting a little better, and the more at bats you get, and the more you work on it in practice, you’re able to improve and get better,” he said.
Plus, many of the players were still in transition mode from basketball at the beginning of the season.
“It’s tough for kids coming off of winter sports coming into the next sport,” Hall said. “It takes them a while to get some swings in, and as the season has worn on, we’ve worked on some and the hitting has improved and come around.”
That was proven Friday night in the three home runs East Surry pounded off of West Stokes.
The Cardinals jumped out to a lead in the top of the first inning. Andrew Hunter legged out an infield single and Austin Tilley promptly hit a home run to put East Surry ahead with a 2-0 lead.
It was more of the same in the second and third innings for East Surry as Troy Jessup kept the West Stokes’ hitters at bay on the mound.
In the top of the second, Jordan Miller opened up the inning with a double. Then, Lathan Hunter walked. Devin Slate singled to drive in Miller, and Kyle Shinault hit another single to drive in Lathan Hunter. Andrew Hunter walked, Tilley singled to score Slate, and then Jessup hit a sacrifice fly to score Shinault.
In the third, Miller led off with a walk and then Lathan Hunter doubled to make it second and third with nobody out. Evan Smith then hit a three-run home run to put the Cardinals up 9-0 in just three innings.
West Stokes finally answered with two in the fourth, and then made it interesting with four in the bottom of the sixth.
“They got a couple hits, and we had a couple of errors in the bottom of the sixth that allowed them to score four runs, but we were able to get out of that inning,” Hall said.
Miller came in for the save in seventh to preserve the win for the Cardinals.
Next up for East Surry is the conference championship.
Because of Friday’s game, East Surry is tied with West Stokes for second in the Northwest 1A/2A conference.
East Surry will play South Stokes on Tuesday for the first game of the tournament, and Hall said he was glad to see such an offensive outing before the tournament.
“We’re in a situation now, where everything is one and out as far as the conference tournament is concerned,” Hall said. “If we give it our best effort, we’ll take it win or lose.”
East Surry 10, West Stokes 6
ES: 2 4 3 0 0 1 0 - 10 11 2
WS: 0 0 0 2 0 4 0 - 6 7 0
WP: Troy Jessup
LP: Scott Leonard
2B — ES: Jordan Miller, Lathan Hunter; WS: Jordan Hall, Luke Hunter, Justin Taylor
HR — ES: Andrew Hunter, Austin Tilley, Evan Smith
East Surry wins 4A matchup
TAYLORSVILLE — East Surry softball got a chance to prove it belongs among the elite teams in North Carolina this weekend at the Tiffany Crouse Games in addition to contributing to a good cause.
East Surry beat 4A Richmond County 6-4 Saturday afternoon. The Tiffany Crouse Games are in support of a scholarship from the Crouse family to go towards a player on host Alexander Central’s team.
Crouse was a former Alexander Central player who died from leukemia.
“All the proceeds go to a scholarship that her family sponsors, so it’s a great cause obviously,” East Surry coach Derrick Hill said. “And they always invite really good teams, so it’s good experience for us.”
Though playing a 4A team could wear the kids out so late in the season, Hill said it really does the opposite.
“It helps us gauge where we are, and what we need to work on,” Hill said.
And what the Cardinals need to work on is finishing out a game.
East Surry started off well, scoring one run in the first off a Samantha Smith hit and a Morgan Chilton RBI. The team scored two more in the second.
Hill said he was most proud of his team’s effort in the sixth inning. It was in that inning where some reserves got some key playing time.
Evelyn Wells and Christian Smith both reached on errors. Sarah Scott had a single that drove in a run, and then Sarah Horton had two RBIs that knocked in the other two on base.
Richmond County got on the board in the third with one run, but East Surry was looking good going into the seventh inning.
Jessica Creed had replaced Hayley Shelton on the mound. Hill said he wanted to give Shelton some rest and Creed some playing time against a tough opponent because she’ll be the pitcher for East next year.
“Jessica pitched well,” Hill said. “She didn’t do anything wrong, she did what she was supposed to do by throwing strikes, but the defense didn’t do well behind her.”
Richmond County ended up scoring three runs in the seventh off a couple of hits, a couple of errors and some bad decision-making by the East Surry defense.
Shelton eventually came in from left field to shut down Richmond County and end the game.
“We’re not finishing well right now, and that’s a concern,” Hill said. “But other than the last inning, we played well and everybody got to play and contribute something to the win.”
East Surry will play South Stokes for its senior night Tuesday.
East Surry 6, Richmond County 4
ES: 1 0 2 0 0 3 1 -6 6 4
RC: 0 0 1 0 0 0 3- 4 6 7
WP: Hayley Shelton
LP: Snead
2B — ES: Samantha Smith; RC: Wood
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