GASTONIA, N.C. — The Kingsmen swept Dominion Sports Collective on Tuesday in a doubleheader before falling Wednesday to the Wolves at Gardner-Webb University.
Out of the three games played, the first game had the widest margin. After falling behind in the first few innings, the Kingsmen scored five runs in the fourth and six runs in the fifth to take a commanding 13-4 lead in the series opener.
Kaysen Young looked good on the mound, baffling hitters with his off-speed command. The Kingsmen bats were freely flowing with nine hits, all singles.
While the Kingsmen were never able to make it a ten-run lead to end the game early, they never allowed the Wolves to get back into the game.
Game two saw a back-and-forth affair for the ages. After DSC scored two runs in the first inning for the second game in a row, the Kingsmen managed to tie the game with runs in the second and third frames.
When DSC thrust themselves ahead again in the fifth, the KBA had an answer. It loaded the bases for Owen Beatrice, who ripped a first pitch fastball into the opposite field gap for a bases-clearing double, his second extra base hit of the ballgame.
Again, the game was tied in the seventh. Dominion put together a rally to take the lead, stifled by a wonderful catch by Ryan Watters to take away an extra base hit. All in all, the visitors had a two-run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
For the second time, the Kingsmen responded. Four of the first five hitters reached, and Montgomery Hart’s single tied the game.
After holding DSC scoreless in the eighth, up came Tristan Harless with the chance to lead off a winning inning.
It only took three pitches.
Harless turned on an inside pitch and ballooned it over the right field wall, a walk-off home run. The Kingsmen mobbed him at the plate as they celebrated a hard-earned win.
In the third game, we were treated to another extraordinary battle. Noah Entrekin threw five no-hit innings, striking out ten. It was the second time that Entrekin has registered double-digit strikeouts for the KBA.
Despite that, the Wolves battled back. With the Kingsmen low on pitching, they muscled through the Kingsmen wall and tied the game in the sixth.
Then, down to their last out in the seventh after the KBA retook the lead, they singled home the tying and go-ahead runs before hitting a double to pull ahead by three.
The Kingsmen got one back in the bottom of the seventh but fell by a final score of 7-5.
Despite the loss, the Kingsmen overtook DSC in the ABA Prospect standings. As of the publishing of this article, they are tied with Georgia Premier at the top of the leaderboard, closely followed by TNXL, Central Pointe, and Dominion.
As the calendar turns to April, every game will be crucial.
