Scotland baseball ties with East Columbus in suspended opener unlikely to be finished

LAURINBURG — At half past 4 p.m. Wednesday, the Scotland Fighting Scots baseball team was beginning its 2024 season opener against the East Columbus Gators. Just before 8 o’clock, though, it was ending as a suspended game.

With the score tied at 7-7 after seven innings, extra innings transpired in a downpour of rain. And with two outs in the top of the eighth, the Gators took a 10-7 lead after a three-run homer over the right-field wall by Braylon Waddell. But immediately following the dinger, the behind-the-plate umpire motioned to Scotland coach Ricky Schattauer for fresh dirt to be applied around home plate as mud formed.

Subsequently, the two umpires and coaches met, agreeing to suspend the game with no end in sight for the torrential rainfall. But because the eighth inning wasn’t finished, the score was reverted to the last complete inning — the 7-7 tie in the seventh — meaning the game will end in a tie if it isn’t concluded, which Schattauer said is likely.

The start time for the contest was moved up from 7 p.m. to try and beat the forecasted rain.

“It’s a suspended game, meaning there is no final (right now),” Schattauer said.

Although the game wasn’t completed, it wasn’t a waste for Scotland; the Scots battled adversity being down most of it, and entering the bottom of the seventh down 7-3, were able to even the score.

Several errors by the Gators allowed Scotland’s Dawson Williams, Thomas Taylor and Garrett Manning to score a run each with one out before Blane Callahan struck out for the second Scotland out. With Kaden Hunsucker on third, Cameron Cole went up next to bat and got the RBI hit to bring in Hunsucker for the game-tying run; Garrett Sellers was struck out swinging for the third out with Cole left on second.

“I think it’s a stepping stone in the right direction,” Schattauer said. “With the young guys we have, with the inexperienced guys that we have, I think it’s going to trend in the right direction, us battling when we do go down early, that we’re not out of the game. I think that was actually a bright sign.”

East Columbus came out with hot bats, scoring four first-inning runs; George Nance was plated on a Waddell double, Waddell scored after a Brooks McLean sac fly to right field, Gauge Simmons found home following Adrion Jennerette’s hit and Nick Rye brought in the fourth run on a Mack Freeman pop fly to right field.

“I felt like we came out maybe a little sluggish,” Schattauer said. “We’re supposed to win game one. We’re better than that team. And they put a hurtin’ on us in the first inning.”

The Scots came alive on offense in the third when Williams singled, then stole second and third before Maddox Locklear hit a ground ball to help Williams trot home; after Locklear stole third, Taylor’s RBI hit made it 4-2.

In the fourth, East Columbus added a pair of runs to extend its lead to 6-2 after Landon Coyle scored on Waddell’s line-drive triple, followed by an RBI hit by Simmons.

“They don’t strike out; I will give props to that team right there,” Schattauer said on the Gators. “Every at-bat, they fought off, and they finally would get a little squib hit, a little short blooper. And we hate to see those, but those batters are doing their job.”

The Gators made it a five-run advantage in the fifth after Rye scored from third; Williams scored the second of his three runs in the bottom of the inning for Scotland before its seventh-inning surge.

Williams finished 3-for-4 for Scotland, Taylor had two hits and two RBI and Manning and Hunsucker had two hits and an RBI each. Dylan Tilson started and pitched five innings, allowing six earned runs on nine hits with two strikeouts, before Robbie Peed and Hunsucker came in for relief.

Waddell had three hits and two RBI for East Columbus, and Jennerette had a hit and two RBI. McLean pitched the first 3 1/3 innings before Jennerette and Simmons threw in relief.

Scotland’s next chance to get a win on its record will be on Thursday against Purnell Swett in Pembroke.