West Columbus was the location last night as the Wolfpack rolled into town with an 8-3 record to take on the 3-8 Vikings. Whiteville was 4-0 on the road entering the game and they were looking confident because they knew the strikeout machine, Ty Lawson, was on the mound.
Lawson is sporting an E.R.A right around 1.50 and there has not been a game that he has not thrown 10-plus strikeouts. Last night was no different for Mr. Lawson.
Whiteville beat West Columbus 12-0, handing the Vikings their ninth loss of the season, in a mercy rule shortened five inning game. Ty Lawson had 12 strikeouts and 4 hits that were easily handled by the Wolfpack defense. Bud Baldwin was behind the plate, Caleb Johnson was at first, Grayson Bell started at second base and was replaced later in the game by Will Fisher, Sam Inman was solid at shortstop as usual, and Grayson Creech on third base wrapping up the infield. In the outfield was Ashton Hammonds in left, Luke Odham in center and Kyler Dowless in right field.
With two quick, hard-hit outs by Baldwin and Dowless to start the game, the Pack then scored seven runs to finish the inning. Seth Williams was on the mound for the Vikings, and he walked seven batters and gave up four runs in the first inning before he was replaced.
Jack Mathews came in with bases loaded and threw a wild pitch to score Grayson Creech from third base. Bud Baldwin then roped a two-RBI double down the first base line scoring Grayson Bell and Ashton Hammonds (both reached on walks). Ty Lawson walked to lead off the second and Will Fisher came in as the courtesy runner. Caleb Johnson then scorched an RBI, a stand up triple into the right field corner, scoring Fisher.
Caleb Hohnson has been swinging a hot bat, he makes the most of every plate appearance, there was a moment when I thought we were going to see an in the park homerun for the second game in a row, but Coach Brown held him up at third. It would have been a close play.
Sam Inman, also hot at the plate, then got an RBI single to right field, scoring Johnson. Ashton Hammonds would get up and get an RBI double to right field, scoring Inman. That would bring the score to 10-0 in the middle of the second.
It was the fifth inning when the Wolfpack scored the final two runs last night. Hammonds was hit by a pitch and a few walks, and a wild pitch later, Hammonds would score. Bud Baldwin would get up and get a sacrifice fly to center, moving the remaining runners into scoring position. Luke Odham would then get up and rope an RBI stand up double, scoring Will Fisher who got on base earlier on an infield single hit to the shortstop. That would make the score 12-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. The Vikings got a few runners on base in that half of the inning, but Ty Lawson pitched his way out of any trouble and even struck out the final batter.
It was good to see J.T. Todd walking around without the boot on his foot.
West Columbus comes to historic Legion Stadium to take on the 9-3 Wolfpack tomorrow (Wednesday). The first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m and the pre-game coverage starts at 6:45 p.m. on Kool-FM. You can catch every pitch 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 morning at 10:30 a.m. 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
