Scots held scoreless in rematch against Pinecrest

LAURINBURG — After falling 8-3 against the Pinecrest Patriots (14-2, 7-1 SAC) Tuesday night in Southern Pines, the Scotland baseball team (8-6, 3-5 Sandhills Athletic Conference) looked for redemption against the Patriots at McCoy Field Thursday night.

Instead, everything went almost as bad as it could get.

A total of 10 runners were left on base, a whopping 14 strikeouts were recorded, and six hits turned into zero runs for the Scots, as they lost 9-0 and dropped their third in-a-row.

Scotland head coach Ricky Schattauer said that, while his team struggled in those areas, another problem they experienced was not putting any pressure on Pinecrest.

“I think the one thing we can try to clean up is our walks,” he said. “We had four walks, three hit by pitches, and we had four errors to count up 11 free bases for them (Pinecrest). You can’t give good teams free bases.”

During this past offseason, Bryant Kimbrell and Hunter Huneycutt, who both previously played for Scotland, transferred to Pinecrest and stepped foot on McCoy Field for their first game back in a new uniform.

Schattauer described what happened after the game when getting the opportunity to speak to them in person for the first time at Scotland since they both changed schools.

“I did speak to Bryant Kimbrell,” Schattauer said. “I shook his hand; told him it was good to see him. I did not say anything to Huneycutt.”

Kimbrell was the first Patriot to put a run on the board in the second inning, after Dylan Floyd was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in Kimbrell.

In the third, Kimbrell continued where he left off in the second; only this time, he was able to send J.C. Woolard home from second with a ground ball hit to the shortstop Garrett Manning and reaching first on an error from Manning, but getting tagged out advancing to second.

The Patriots put up another run in the fourth from J.D. Scarbrough to make it 3-0, before a four-run fifth inning extended their lead to 7-0.

Kimbrell notched an RBI line drive double to center field to score Colby Wallace from first, which Kimbrell was returned the favor on, after he got his second run of the game on a Connor Tepatti sac hit. Pierce Perotta scored from second, thanks to an RBI ground ball single from Floyd, and Scarbrough coupled his lone run with another, after Woolard was walked with the bases full.

Pinecrest sealed their win with an additional pair of runs in the seventh from Ryan Norris and Huneycutt. Huneycutt hit an RBI line drive single to right field, bringing Norris across home plate, before Huneycutt was scored with a Wallace RBI line drive double to right field.

Alex Hatcher and Cadyn Graves finished with two hits apiece, while Dawson Williams and Blane Wagner each had a hit.

Kimbrell, Wallace, Huneycutt, and Tepatti all tallied two hits each for Pinecrest; Floyd led the team with three RBIs.

Wallace, an East Carolina University commit, earned the win, allowing six hits and three walks, while striking out 11 in six innings pitched.

Noah Arnett pitched one inning of relief for Wallace.

Turner Bounds suffered the loss for the Scots, allowing three runs on five hits, one error, and two walks, while striking out two in four inning pitched.

Hatcher pitched 2/3 innings of relief, giving up four runs on four hits, four errors, and walking two, while striking out one.

JV pitcher Dylan Tilson, who was called up to the varsity roster earlier this week, pitched 2 1/3 innings for the Scots and allowed two runs on three hits and two errors, while striking out two.

Schattauer discussed Tilson and how he performed in his first taste of the varsity level.

“(We) talked to him on Wednesday at practice,” Schattauer said. “He said he was up for the job, called him up, and he did a fantastic job coming in as a sophomore throwing strikes for us.”

The Scots head to Wilmington on Monday for a doubleheader at Ashley High School; they’ll go against Ashley at 1 p.m., then play Laney High School at 4 p.m.

Schattauer said one of the goals he has for his team in the back-to-back is to score “as many runs as possible.”

I feel like we’ve struggled scoring the runs in abundance,” he said. “We’re facing two good teams; hopefully, they get us ready for the rest of the year.”

JV baseball gets win over Pinecrest

The Scotland JV baseball team (9-2, 5-2 Sandhills Athletic Conference) picked up an 8-1 win over the Pinecrest Patriots (6-5, 4-2 SAC) Thursday night in Southern Pines.

The Scots got out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, then added another run in the third, before Pinecrest put up their only score of the game in the third. Two more runs each in the fourth and fifth innings by Scotland ultimately closed the game.

Ryan McCormick and Cameron Cole each had three runs in the game, while Bryson McCarter and Charles Sessims had one apiece; Sessims tallied a team-high three hits and three RBIs.

Kaden Hunsucker picked up the win for the JV Scots, allowing one run on six hits, one error, and four walks, while striking out three in five innings pitched.

Maddox Locklear pitched an inning of relief, allowing no runs on one hit and striking out one.

Taylor Graves took the loss for Pinecrest, giving up six runs on eight hits, six errors, and four walks, while striking out five in 3 2/3 innings pitched.

Brantley Hunt, James Vandevander, and Bodhi Robertson all pitched in relief for the Patriots.

The JV Scots host Lee County in their next game on April 18 at 4 p.m.