By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

Parker Davis made quite a season debut on the mound, David Thiel played like a beast and the Mocksville Senior Legion baseball team broke into the win column with a 6-0 home decision over Wadesboro on May 19.
The first three games absolutely stunk as Post 174 was outscored 35-14 – with a 10.87 ERA through 18.2 innings – in losses to Union County, Kannapolis and Concord.
But Mocksville got a vibe-shifting win thanks to Davis’ 23 batters faced over six innings and a five-run explosion in the bottom of the fifth.
“Parker was dealing,” coach Mike Lovelace said. “Parker was lights out. It should have been about 75 pitches through six (instead of 89). We made two errors and he had to get two extra outs. That’s how good he was.”
Wadesboro looked primed to bust open the 0-0 game in the third, but Davis escaped the jam with three of his nine strikeouts. He walked one while throwing 61 strikes on the night.
“They had second and third and no outs and Parker pitched out of it,” Lovelace said.
Mocksville scratched for a 1-0 lead in the fourth, when Turner walked and scored on a two-out double to right by Joseph Johnson.
It was 1-0 going into the bottom of the fifth. The next thing you knew, it was 6-0. After Nik Nelson drew a fullcount walk, Hunter Daywalt stroked a two-strike single to right-center. Daywalt, a Davie senior, has looked great for a guy who is playing for the first time in three years.
“Hunter hit one in the trees on Saturday (in an 11-10 loss to Kannapolis on May 17),” Lovelace said of his tape-measure homer. “He’s getting his timing down.”
There were two on and two outs with the score 1-0 in the fifth. Jordan Turner walked for the second time to keep the inning alive. Brayden Carter knocked one in with a single. Then Thiel, a sophomore from Mt. Tabor, hit a two-run double to left.
“With one hand, he bounced it off the left-field wall,” Lovelace said in astonishment. “He is hotter than a firecracker. The guy hung a breaking ball. I said: ‘Did you hit that with one hand?’ He said: ‘My other hand came off the bat.’”
Not to be outdone, Joseph Johnson capped the five-run fifth with a two-run double to left-center. For the night, Thiel (2 for 3) and Joseph Johnson (2-2) combined for three doubles and five RBIs.
“Our first five at the plate can be really, really good,” Lovelace said.
Thiel’s big night included a sparkling defensive play at first.
“Unbelievable play,” Lovelace said of an unassisted double play when Wadesboro had runners at the corners with one out. “A screamer was hit to first. He’s about 270 pounds, but he’s athletic and he can hit. He bounced off the bag and laid out face first. He caught it, rolled around, got up and beat the guy to the bag.”
Lovelace pulled Davis after the Davie senior had worked a four-hit shutout for six innings. Carter, who plays high school ball at Westchester Country Day, struck out two of the three batters he faced in the last inning.
“Parker wanted to finish, but I wasn’t going to let him go anymore because I wanted Carter to get work because he’s going to have to be one of our guys,” Lovelace said. “Carter was nasty.”
Notes: Turner looked dynamic behind the plate in his first Mocksville game. “We rolled out with a new catcher,” Lovelace said. “(Turner) is legit. He hosed a guy. The runner had a three-step jump and he threw a rocket.” … Weird things happen in baseball. Manny Morales was 7 for 9 during the 0-3 start. He went 0-3 in the win. “(But) he hit a missile to right field (for an out),” Lovelace said. “He is hitting rockets.” … After Wadesboro, Thiel was hitting .636 (7 for 11). … Noah Owens of Statesville was the leadoff man in the first three games, but he couldn’t make the Wadesboro game. “He was up for athlete of the year in Iredell County,” he said. “You’re going to hear a lot about him this summer. He was a state champion in track in the 4×4.” … Charlie Young earned a thumbs up from Lovelace during the 12-2 loss to Union County in the season opener. Both of his runs in two relief innings were unearned. “He’s got a chance to be really good,” Lovelace said. … Mocksville has twins from Elkin – Joseph and Jonus Johnson. “They are hard-working kids,” he said. … Daywalt (1-3, two RBIs), Carter (1-3) and Ryan Williams (1-2) had one hit each vs. Wadesboro.