LINCOLNTON, N.C. — The Kingsmen piled on the runs late on Friday at GeoSurfaces Field to rally and defeat Combine Academy.
The slate of games, originally scheduled as a doubleheader, saw the Kingsmen win game one 15-7 and be leading game two at the time of the day’s end.
After a difficult start for Kaysen Young, Combine Academy Goats took a 7-1 lead into the third inning. Brandon Falk came in out of the pen and delivered a masterful performance, striking out ten hitters over 4.2 innings while giving up no runs and no hits.
In fact, Combine only had one hit the entire day, coming in the second inning of game one.
Montgomery Hart hit a solo home run in the third, the Kingsmen’s first home run of the Spring. Despite that, the team was unable to make any more progress chasing the Combine lead after five innings.
In the sixth, the team came alive. Taking advantage of early walks, the Kingsmen battled back and enjoyed some clutch hits from Owen Beatrice and Hudson Entrekin. They put across seven runs in the sixth to take their first lead since the top of the first inning.
Finally in the seventh, the offensive onslaught continued, as Beatrice hit a towering home run to left, and back-to-back extra base hits from Entrekin and Israel Clase grabbed the Kingsmen another six runs. They walked out of a marathon game one with an eight-run win.
Game two, shortened by a lack of daylight, has been led by a near-perfect starting outing by Micah Irving. Through three innings, he has seven strikeouts to just two walks and no hits, keeping Combine off the scoreboard.
Offensively, the bats stayed hot. Three runs in the first inning gave the Kingsmen an early lead, they added one in the third, but it was the fourth inning as the sun was setting in Lincolnton that put an exclamation mark on the day.
Christian Burney left the ballpark with a left-field blast, much to the delight of his teammates. The Kingsmen piled on five more before the game was called due to darkness, giving Coach Joe Hudak’s team a nine to zero lead as it currently stands.
The game is set to be finished on Thursday in Lincolnton. The conclusion of that game will be followed by one more seven inning contest.
In other news, Sunday’s doubleheader against Combined Academy has been cancelled due to projected inclement weather in the Gastonia area. As of the publishing of this article, there are no plans for these games to be rescheduled.
The team is back in action on Monday against Belmont Abbey JV in Belmont, North Carolina.
