Whiteville versus East Columbus April 1, 2022
Whiteville traveled into the Swamp and took care of business. They beat East Columbus 12-2. Ashton Hammonds was on the mound for the Wolfpack and pitched strong for 6-innings. Hammonds had 9 strikeouts (5 of the last six faced) of 2-hit (both hits in the first inning) baseball. The only run Ashton gave up was on a pop-foul behind third base, East Columbus caught Whiteville off guard and tagged up on the play and scored. It would be the Gators only run till the seventh inning. Cody Etheridge came in to pitch the seventh for the Wolfpack and had a tough start to the inning, walking two and hitting another batter loading the bases for the Gators. Etheridge bounced a pitch past Baldwin and the runner scored from third. The east Columbus threat ended when they lined out to Grayson Creech at third base, he then stepped on third to complete the one-man double play to end the game.
The Whiteville bats were hot and scored 12 runs on the night. Bud Baldwin started off the game by singling the first pitch into right field, he then stole second base. Lawson walked to get on base, then Kyler Dowless singled down the third base line scoring Baldwin. Lawson ended up on third and Dowless on second base after a bobbled play in the outfield. Will Fisher then walked to load the bases for Sam Inman. Inman grounded out to third and Lawson scored on the play. It was 2-0 to start the game. The Wolfpack added 3-runs in the third inning. Ty Lawson roped a single to center, Dowless walks and both Lawson and Dowless move to second and third-base on a passed ball. Will Fisher grounds out to the shortstop scoring Lawson on the play. Sam Inman gets up to bat and then gets an RBI single off the third baseman’s glove. Inman would steal second base; he would score when the left fielder misplayed a hit by Ashton Hammonds. That would make it 5-1 after three-innings. Will Fisher got an RBI single past third base scoring Ty Lawson, who walked to get on base in the fourth. The score was 6-1 after 4 innings and 9-1 after five innings. Hammonds gets a stand up double down the left field line and then moves to third base on a balk. Grayson Bell would get an RBI single to right field scoring the run from third. Baldwin would then single, he and Bell would advance on a wild pitch. Odham walks to load the bases for Whiteville. Lawson hits into a fielder’s choice to third, scoring the runner from third. Kyler Dowless hit an RBI single past the shortstop. The Wolfpack scored three runs in the top of the seventh. Baldwin started it off with a double down the third base line. Baldwin moved to third base on a fielder choice hit to third by Luke Odham. Caleb Johnson came in as a courtesy runner for Baldwin and scored on a wild pitch. Lawson was hit by a pitch and steals second base. Fisher makes it to second base on another outfielder miscue for the Gators and Lawson ended up on third base. Ty Lawson would score on another wild pitch. Cody Etheridge came in to pinch-hit and got an RBI single to left field scoring Inman. That would make it 12-1 as the Wolfpack entered the bottom half of the seventh inning, they gave up one run to end the game. Once again, the final score was 12-2 in favor of the Wolfpack.
The Whiteville defense for the game was Grayson Creech at third base, he made a few great plays. Sam Inman was sharp as usual at shortstop. Grayson Bell started at second base for the Wolfpack and had a good game. Ty Lawson was at first and scooped a few balls out of the dirt and made it look easy. Bud Baldwin was behind the plate and stopped everything that he could reach. Luke Odham has been playing centerfield since the injury to JT Todd (Todd out 2-4 more weeks ankle), Luke looked extremely comfortable in center and made some web gem plays. Kyler Dowless is now in right field moving over from left field since the Todd injury. Ashton Cartrette played left field for the Wolfpack last night and Will Fisher was the DH (Designated Hitter) in Cartrette’s place.
Whiteville travels to Pender on Tuesday. The first pitch is scheduled for 7pm and the pre-game coverage starts at 6:45 on Kool-FM. You can catch the away game updates on Kool 103.9-FM radio and streaming at www.Kool1039Radio.com
– Vinny Pagano is the Sports Editor for Columbus County News and Sports Director for WTXY Kool 103.9FM & AM1540. Join Vinny every Saturday mornings at 10:30am on WTXY AM1540 & KOOL 103.9FM for “In The Sports Zone”, a weekly sports talk podcast, covering the world of professional, college, semi-pro and the local sports world. In The Sports Zone is also available on Spotify, and other Podcast sites. Local Sports stories, as well as questions and comments can be submitted to Vinny at sports@kool1039radio.com
