Friday March 29th, 2024 7:17AM

Baseball: NHall completes tough sweep of Warriors

By Jeff Hart | Video by Seth Chapman

CLEVELAND — North Hall’s Eli Reece and White County’s Dylan Sargent put on one of the best pitching display’s this season on Friday in the two teams’ Region 7-3A series finale at Warriors Field.

The senior righthanders combined for 11 strikeouts, surrendered just seven total hits, stranded 11 baserunners -- 7 in scoring position -- and both offenses went a combined 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

In the end, Sargent was undone by two big errors and a pair of unearned runs as the Trojans escaped with a 2-0 win to complete the series sweep over the Warriors.

“One of the best pitched games I’ve seen in four of five years,” White County coach Jim Waits said. “We just didn’t give (Dylan) any help at the plate.”

“Both guys threw really well. Eli could have had a no-hitter,” North Hall coach Trevor Flow said. “We were able to capitalize on a couple of things and got some big stolen bases as well. We did the little things better tonight (than we have been).”

The win kept North Hall (14-5, 9-0 Region 7-3A) atop the region standings. The loss dropped White County (9-7, 3-6 Region 7-3A) three games behind fourth place East Forsyth in the standings.

North Hall will take its nine-game win streak into a big series with upstart East Forsyth (12-7, 6-3 Region 7-3A) next week while the Warriors take on Gilmer.

The Trojans jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first when Ajay Jones reached on an error, moved to second on a sacrifice by Luke Erickson, and scored on a wild pitch by Sargent.

Reece took care of the insurance run himself, singling to lead off the seventh, stealing second and third, and scoring on an errant throw to third for a 2-0 lead.

In between, Reece and Sargent each worked out of potential game-changing jams.

White County looked poised to answer in the first when Ryan Fowler singled to lead off the bottom of the inning, went to second when Jake Johnson was hit by a pitch, and moved to third on an error by Reece. But Reece got out of the jam striking out Nate Bray, then throwing out Johnson trying to steal, and inducing Sargent to ground out to end the inning.

In the second, North Hall got runners to second and third with two outs but Johnson made a diving catch on a Korbyn Sosebee line drive to center to keep it a one-run game.

North Hall threatened to blow it open in the fifth, getting a pair of runners on with one out on an error and a walk. But Sargent got Erickson to ground into a double play to get out of the mess.

In the Warriors’ sixth, with it still a slim 1-0 North Hall lead, Landon Roberts doubled to start and moved to third on a wild pitch with one out. But after a walk to Johnson, Reece got Bray to pop out and Sargent grounded out to end the inning.

Waits said it has been a key problem during the Warriors’ six-game losing streak. They came into the series averaging 8.0 run/game. They scored just five and left 15 runners on base in the series.

“We definitely had our chances, not just in this game but in the entire series,’ Waits said. “We’ve been in a little bit of a funk at the plate the last week or so and we really need to get that turned around. We pitched well enough to win one or two games in the series.”

After the shaky first, Reece settled down to retire 10 straight batters into the fourth inning before Sargent doubled with two out. But Sargent was able to match him for the Warriors, setting down 9 of 10 North Hall batters after the Reece single into the sixth inning to keep it a 1-0 deficit. 

However, the Warriors could not take advantage as Reece retired 10 of the final 12 White County batters to preserve the win.

  • Associated Categories: Sports, High School Sports
  • Associated Tags: High school baseball, North Hall baseball, White County baseball
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