Foothills North gets over the hump vs. West

The third time was the charm for Foothills North in its cross-county rivalry with Foothills West.

After dropping its first two meetings against West by margins of two runs or fewer, Foothills North topped West 6-4 in a June 13 home game.

North’s two pitchers — Beau Carson and Kinley Stanley — combined for 12 strikeouts and held West to just two hits. North, meanwhile, recorded six hits and scored in five of the six innings they came to bat.

Carson and Stanley nearly split their time pitching evenly. Carson got the start and threw 3.2 innings, during which time he recorded six strikeouts, four bases on balls, one hit by pitch, and allowed four runs on two hits. Stanley, who pitched the final 3.1 innings, finished with six strikeouts and two bases on balls while holding West hitless.

North’s Jonah Adams led all players with three hits in three at-bats. Adams also accounted for three of his team’s runs.

Carson, Garrett Senter and Kyler Simmons each added one hit for North; Senter recorded his first home run in legion ball this year after going yard twice during his freshman season at North Surry.

Will Pardue and Bryson Grey each had one hit for West.

North scored at least one run in each of the first four innings and never trailed in Thursday’s game.

Leadoff batter Carson was walked in the bottom of the first, then moved to second on a ground out. A wild pitch moved Carson to third base before West picked up the inning’s second out, then a passed ball allowed Carson to score his team’s opening run.

Adams recorded his first of three hits with one out already on the board in the bottom of the second inning. A pickoff error at first sailed into right field and allowed Adams to advance all the way to third, then Zamarri Sweatman grounded out to bring Adams home.

West only put one runner on base in the first two innings, then doubled that in the second after Cash Wilmoth and Garrett Higgins were walked. A wild pitch and passed ball put the runners on second and third base respectively, which set Pardue up for a 2RBI double that evened things up.

North responded with two runs of its own in the inning’s bottom half, beginning with a solo home Senter hammered over the 325 sign in left-center field. North kept its foot on the gas as Brooks Robertson stole second after earning a base on balls. A pickoff error moved Robertson to third, then he was scored on a double from Simmons.

The back-and-forth continued as West had its second-consecutive two-run inning. A hit to left field put Grey on first base, then he moved to second when Wilmoth was walked. Carson threw a strikeout for the inning’s second out, but a throwing error by North allowed the visitors to score two runs and tie things back up at 4-4.

West only put two runners on base after Stanley took over on the mound with two outs in the fourth inning. Stanley struck out six of the 10 batters he faced while walking two; both players to earn a base on balls were later called out as part of ground out double plays.

Adams led off with a double in the bottom of the fifth by nearly hitting a home run in the same spot Senter did two innings earlier. Sweatman grounded out to move Adams to third, then Adams scored on a wild pitch to put North back ahead 5-4.

North was held scoreless for the first time in the bottom of the fifth. Aiden Perkins was walked before stealing second, but Pardue caught Perkins off the base by rifling a throw to Fletcher Gallimore from behind the plate.

Stanley threw three-consecutive strikeouts in the top of the sixth inning to keep North’s one-run advantage alive. North looked like it was headed for its second scoreless inning following a flyout and another pickoff by Pardue, but the home team responded by putting back-to-back-to-back batters on base.

Adams got things going with a line drive to center field, then Nick Burnett was walked. Carson brought Adams in for North’s final run with a ground ball to right field.

Pitching

FH West

Will Pardue — 3 IP, 6K, 4 BB, 0 HBP, 3H, 4R

Landon Gallimore — 3 IP, 3K, 3 BB, 0 HBP, 3H, 2R

FH North

Beau Carson — 3 2/3 IP, 6K, 4 BB, 1 HBP, 2H, 4R

Kinley Stanley — 3 1/3 IP, 6K, 2 BB, 0 HBP, 0H, 0R

Scoring

FH West — 0, 0, 2, 2, 0, 0, 0 — 4

FH North — 1, 1, 2, 1, 0, 1, X — 6