By Brian Pitts
Davie Enterprise Record

It was a breakthrough week for South Davie’s baseball team, with the Tigers winning two games. By contrast, North Davie’s three-game week was full of heartbreak, with the Wildcats enduring three one-run losses.
Mixed in was a blowout win for the Ellis Jaguars, who sport the only winning record among the three Davie County squads.
While South entered a home game against North with an 0-2 record, Zach Hudspeth gave the Tigers a much-needed boost in their dramatic 3-2 win. Not only did he get the win as the closer, holding North to one run over three innings, he provided the walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh.
Dawson Daniels and Cody Josey worked two innings each for South. Those two and Hudspeth combined on a one-hitter. They did make things difficult on themselves by issuing 10 walks. But they offset that by teaming up for 12 strikeouts, including seven looking.
“You do that, you won’t score many runs and you won’t win many games,” North coach Greg Brooks said.
Cody Smith, who had North’s only hit, gave North a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. South scratched in the second and third to take a 2-1 lead. North tied it in the fifth when Jake Barneycastle stole third and trotted home on an overthrow.
With the score 2-2 in the last of the seventh, the first South batter was retired. But Chris Reynolds, who had two of South’s three hits, sparked the winning rally with a single. Then he stole second.
Hudspeth sealed the deal when he smacked an opposite-field double down the left-field line.
“That was a win we needed very badly,” South coach Rob Orrill said. “For us to win it like that was big for the kids. I hope it can be a turning point for our season.”
The Tigers were due for a win over North. They had lost nine of 10 and four straight in the series. Last year North beat South twice, overcoming 4-0 deficits each time.  
“Even though we only had one hit, we still had 11 left on base,” Brooks said. “We just couldn’t get the bat off our shoulders to get some runs across. We are a better team than this. We must continue to work hard to get better.”
Even though Barneycastle got the loss, he pitched well in relief. He gave up one run and two hits in four-plus innings, walking one and striking out six.
“Jake threw great,” Brooks said.

The Tigers found more light at the end of the tunnel when they toppled visiting Ledford 9-0.
It was an eye-opening day for Josey, who went 3 for 3 with five RBIs and a walk. He mashed a three-run homer in the third and a two-run single in the fifth.
“We’ve been expecting big things from him, and I think he’s finally snapping out of his slump,” Orrill said.
South bombed three homers in the game, including back-to-back shots by Reynolds and Hudspeth in the sixth. Reynolds, who also doubled, went 3 for 4.
Hudspeth was filthy on the hill, holding Ledford to two hits over six innings and piling up 14 strikeouts. Matthew Glass closed in the seventh.

Guy Brunelli and McKay Chamberlain both went 2 for 3 with two RBIs as Ellis (2-1) rocked Ledford 12-3 on the road …