Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Brian Pitts

Davie Enterprise Record

The 11-3 score against Randolph County suggests the Mocksville Junior Legion baseball team was smashed in Asheboro on June 1.

But it was actually a good game until Mocksville got bombed in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Post 174 more than held its own until then. It had a 3-1 lead before flaming out in the home half of the fifth. That’s when Randolph rolled up six runs on four hits and three walks. In the sixth, Randolph padded its 7-3 lead to 11-3 and finished with 14 hits, or eight more than Mocksville.

Getting one hit apiece were Jesse Willard (1-4, double), Joe Barnes (1-4), Luke Foster (1-3), Brayden Carter (1-2, double), Nick Cannon (1-3) and Dashel DesNoyers (1-2, walk).

It was Randolph’s second win over Mocksville, which fell to 1-5. The score of the first meeting was 9-4.

Mock 10, WFG 3

Cannon and Charlie Young delivered spectacular pitching and Mocksville (2-5) bounced back nicely against West Forsyth Green in Clemmons on June 4.

The game was called after six innings by lightning.

Willard lit the fuse in a five-run top of the first. He sent the game’s first pitch screaming to left field, then stole second. The rest of the main action in the first: Carter singles, walk, Carter steals home, Young singles, walk, Young steals home, DesNoyers doubles as the visitors did the damage on four hits, two walks, and yes, two steals of home.

“We had one out after the first six batters,” coach Blake Little said. “On the first pitch of the game, Jesse hit a line drive to left field and that set the tone. We stole five or six bags in that inning, too.”

Mocksville added to the margin in the third, fourth and sixth. Meanwhile, Cannon and Young combined on a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts. Cannon’s gorgeous line: three innings, one walk, seven Ks. The freshman from Davie pounded the zone, firing 33 of 52 pitches for strikes.

Young didn’t have the pinpoint control of Cannon, but he still had shiny stats: three innings, no hits, seven Ks. He easily worked around four walks.

“(Cannon) had struggled with command,” Little said. “I don’t think he has pitched more than three innings all year, but he figured it out a little bit tonight.

“(Young’s) kind of a funky lefty. He doesn’t throw it slow by any means, but his delivery is kind of deceiving and they were late on a bunch of his fastballs. He did not throw many non-fastballs.”

The offensive leader was Willard (2-3, walk, two steals). Five guys had one hit: Carter (1-2, two walks, four steals), Foster (1-3, four steals), Joakim Rose (1-3, two RBIs, three steals), Young (1-1, three walks, three steals) and DesNoyers (1-4, double).

The craziest stat was Mocksville’s 17 stolen bases.

“We are heading in the right direction,” Little said.

West Forsyth’s two teams appear to be substantially different in terms of talent level. West’s Blue team buried Mocksville 8-0 on May 30.