The Scotland High baseball team brought a lot of energy to its season-opening doubleheader against Laney and Ashley on Saturday. That energy powered the Scots to a pair of wins, including a 10-1 rout of Ashley.
The Fighting Scots will need to bring that same energy as they begin their notoriously challenging Sandhills Athletic Conference slate with a pair of games against Jack Britt this week.
Jack Britt will host Scotland at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night. Scotland will then host the Buccaneers at 7 on Thursday night.
Like Scotland, Jack Britt was ousted from the first round of the 4A state playoffs last season. The Bucs’ overall record last year was 11-7.
Jack Britt is off to a 2-1 start this year. That includes victories over Pine Forest and Leesville Road, and a loss to Gray’s Creek.
Junior Marcus Novy will likely be on the mound for Jack Britt on Tuesday. Novy has pitched in two games this season. In 5.2 innings of work, Novy has dealt eight strikeouts and six walks. He’s allowed two hits and one earned run.
Ashley’s Daniel Birkle and Laney’s Connor Kane provided the Scots a glimpse of what awaits them on Tuesday.
“The two guys we faced today are going to be similar to who we face Tuesday,” Scotland coach Chad Hill said. “The Novy kid from Jack Britt will be very similar. Mid-80s with a good breaking ball.
“We don’t need to worry about them as much as we’ve got to take care of ourselves.”
The Scots are looking to get off to a strong start this year — something they didn’t do last season. The doubleheader sweep was the first of many steps in that process.
“It feels way better than last year, when we started off 0-4,” outfielder Stewart Evans said.
Other games on the schedule
The start of softball season at Scotland High has been delayed due to inclement weather. That should change this week, as the Lady Scots jump right into conference play with a pair of games against Jack Britt. Those games will be played at the same times as the baseball games, with Jack Britt hosting on Tuesday and Scotland hosting on Thursday.
After playing at Whiteville on Monday night, the Scotland girls soccer team is set to visit SAC foe Purnell Swett on Tuesday. The Lady Scots will wrap up the week with a home match against Hoke on Friday. The varsity game will begin at 7 p.m. both nights.
Scotland’s boys tennis team has three matches on its schedule this week. The Scots will visit Jack Britt on Tuesday, host Lumberton on Wednesday and visit Purnell Swett on Thursday. All of the tennis matches will begin at 4 p.m.
Scotland’s track and field team will host a conference meet at 4 p.m on Thursday at Pate Stadium.
Spring sports schedules are often altered by weather, so stay tuned for updates.
