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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

After beating West Rowan 10-9 with a miraculous seventh-inning rally, the Mocksville Junior Legion baseball team had a rough finish, losing the final three games of the season.

In game one of a doubleheader at Wilkes County on June 24, Mocksville got belted 12-1 in four and a half innings despite outhitting the hosts 7-6. Wilkes was able to put it on cruise control after scoring nine runs in the bottom of the second inning.

Jesse Willard went 2 for 3 to lead Post 174’s offense. It got one hit from Dashel DesNoyers (1-3), Brayden Carter (1-2, walk), Joakim Rose (1-2), Diego Rivadeneyra (1-1) and Evan Shore (1-2). Joe Barnes had two walks.

Wilkes 3, Mock 1

Barnes hurled a five-hitter, Mocksville produced a base runner every inning and more than doubled Wilkes in hits – but that wasn’t enough to avoid defeat in game two of the twin bill.

Mocksville struck immediately in the top of the first, but Wilkes got its three runs in the second and spent the rest of the night watching Mocksville strand runners.

Mocksville lost to Wilkes for the third time in three meetings despite getting 11 hits to Wilkes’ five. Rose (3-4), Willard (2-4), and Shore (2-3) all had multiple hits. Getting one each were Carter (1-4), Barnes (1-4), Vazquez (1-3) and Dylan Garwood (1-3).

Barnes did his job on the mound, going the distance, walking only one and throwing 48 of 74 pitches for strikes.

In three matchups, Wilkes outscored Mocksville 22-4.

Mt. Pleasant 9, Mock 6

Mocksville pulled off an unlikely comeback in the bottom of the seventh, only to fall in eight innings on June 26 at Rich Park.

After both teams went scoreless in the first three innings, Mocksville broke on top in the bottom of the fourth, when Westin Vestal scored on a balk.

Joshua Whitaker was fabulous for five innings – he was rocking a one-hit shutout – but Mt. Pleasant finally got to him in the sixth. Four hits led to three runs.

Mt. Pleasant pushed its lead to 5-1 in the top of the seventh, but Mocksville came all the way back in the bottom half. After Vestal opened the frame with a walk, hits came from Charlie Young, Junior Vazquez and Shore. Then came the biggest hit of all, a two-run, game-tying single from Rivadeneyra that forced extra innings.

Mt. Pleasant, though, was just relentless in its final three at-bats, scoring four runs on five walks and one hit in the top of the eighth. Mocksville tried to catch lightning in a bottle in the last of the eighth, loading the bases with two outs and scratching out a run on a Garwood hit, but a grounder to short ended the game.

Rivadeneyra went 2-4 to pace Mocksville’s bats. Contributing one hit were Carter (1-4), Rose (1-3, double, walk), Young (1-3), Vazquez (1-3, walk), Shore (1-3, walk) and Garwood (1-4). Vestal walked twice and scored twice.

Whitaker struck out seven in 5.2 innings, but three relievers could not hold off Mt. Pleasant’s attack. They hurt themselves with eight walks.

Mocksville suffered its second three-game slide of the season and finished 6-14.