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By Brian Pitts
Davie Enterprise Record

Few saw this coming.
The Mocksville Senior Legion baseball team battered the Swines 18-8 on June 2, but the Swines looked like a different team on June 9 at Rich Park, pulled a 180-degree turn and absolutely manhandled Mocksville 15-3.
The Swines caught fire right out of the gate, scoring six runs in the top of the first inning. Seven of the first eight batters reached base in the first, and it only got worse for Mocksville as the visitors scored five in the third and four in the fifth.
“They picked up three or four (new players),” coach Mike Lovelace said.
Mocksville was only outhit 9-7, but it committed five errors on a night when the winning side played flawless defense.
David Thiel (2 for 2, walk) and Ryan Williams (2-3) had two hits in defeat. Mocksville got one hit from Joseph Johnson (1-3), Jonus Johnson (1-2) and Nik Nelson (1-2). Brayden Carter reached three times on two walks and a hit by pitch.
Swines 5, Mock 4
Leadoff man Noah Owens, pitcher Tucker Hobbs and Mocksville tried to redeem itself the next night at the Swines, but the backward momentum continued as Post 174 (3-9 overall, 1-2 Northern Division) dropped its third in a row.
“We could not get a big hit,” Lovelace said.
It was a thrilling game that was up for grabs all night.
In the fifth, Mocksville turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. Ryan Robinson and Owens had back-to-back singles and the Swines pitcher beaned Thiel to load the bases with one out. When Carter lifted a sac fly, Mocksville had its first lead of the game.
But in the home half of the fifth, the Swines made Hobbs pay for a walk and a two-out hit batsman. A two-run double put Mocksville in a 4-3 hole.
“We had a rain delay for 45 minutes (in the fifth),” Lovelace said. “It was wet in the outfield and Williams lays out in right-center field and just misses getting it for the third out.”
Mocksville scratched back to 4-4 in the top of the seventh. Robinson started things with a walk, Owens singled for the third time and Morales drew a free pass to load the bases for the team’s foremost hitter. Thiel, who has 15 hits in 12 games, got behind in the count 1-2 but walked on the seventh pitch of the at-bat to force in the tying run. Mocksville needed to make more hay with the bases full, but it remained deadlocked after a strikeout looking.
The Swines won in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh. A hit by pitch was followed by a single. Reliever Owens struck out the next man, and second baseman Jonus Johnson fielded a grounder for the second out. But a pinch-hitter singled to right to knock in the clinching run.
Hobbs valiantly tried to get Post 174 back above .500 in the division, tossing six innings and holding the hosts to five hits.
“Hobbs battled through it, and we finally played defense,” Lovelace said. “We turned a double play on a line drive, and we had a 1-4 unassisted double play. (A line drive) went off Hobbs’ glove to Jonas Johnson, and he beat the runner back to second.”
But in the end, Lovelace just had to tip his hat to the Swines.
“They played Davidson County to a 2-1 (loss) in a league game,” he said. “They played defense. They turned a couple of double plays and they have pitchers who punish the strike zone.”
Owens did everything in his power to push his team over the top, going 3 for 4. Getting one hit were Thiel (1-2, walk, HBP), Joseph Johnson (1-4), Nelson (1-4), Jonus Johnson (1-3) and Robinson (1-2, two runs, walk).
Although Mocksville has dropped nine of 12 games, Thiel is playing out of his mind. His white-hot batting average is .517. He is 15 for 29 and is hitting 218 points above the team average of .299.
It’s been eye-opening stuff for the rising junior at Mt. Tabor.
“David Thiel is murdering it,” Lovelace said. “That guy’s a hitting machine. David is having to catch, but he’s not a catcher. He’s a first baseman. He’s probably 260 pounds, but he has stolen three or four bases. I mean, he is athletic and really good at first base. He’s a smart player and he just hits. One time they unintentionally intentionally walked him. This is how much respect they had for him: They threw him four breaking balls not even near the zone.”