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By Brian Pitts
Davie Enterprise Record

The Mocksville Junior Legion baseball team did not have a stellar game at the plate – just four hits – but timely base knocks propelled Post 174 to a 5-4 home win over Davidson County II on June 16.
Mocksville used three of its hits in a decisive four-run fourth. Those were combined with some help from the visiting side, like Colton Howard’s leadoff walk. After Cayden Thalasinos singled and Tay Settecassi doubled, Thalasinos scored on a wild pitch. The Hawgs walked two more – Dylan Garwood and Ben Bost – to load the bases for Britt Sink, who singled to knock in the third run of the inning. When Jason Riddle plated another with a groundout, Mocksville had sent 10 men to the plate and flipped a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead.
“We had a few big RBI hits,” coach Blake Little said. “We hit the ball well with runners on, and we did the little things that we needed to do to pull it out. For the majority of the game, we hit the ball way better than the hit total shows for us.”
Starting pitcher Ian Patton had some wobbly moments (five walks), but he countered that with a jaw-dropping number of strikeouts – he fanned seven of the 16 batters he faced and only allowed one hit in 2.2 innings.
“We had some good pitching,” Little said. “Patton threw it pretty well. He struck out six in a row at one point. He got into a little trouble in the third inning, but Wade (Hefner) came in and got a big strikeout.”
Hefner was indeed solid in 2.1 innings and earned the win. And then Sink was calm under pressure as the closer.
In the top of the seventh, Davidson County pushed one run across and had the tying run at third with one out. But Sink would not be denied, striking out the last two batters to finish off a combined four-hitter and wearing a stone-cold game face in the process.
“Britt had just pitched one time for us,” Little said. “Hefner ran out of gas, so I brought Britt in. He had a couple of strikeouts when we needed it. He threw strikes and did what we asked of him and ended up getting out of it.”
Bost went 1 for 2 with two walks. Sink (1-4), Thalasinos (1-3) and Settecassi (1-3) had the other hits, while Garwood reached twice on free passes. Catcher Gabe McMurray deserves credit for Mocksville’s second win, this one following a 5-3 victory over West Forsyth Blue.
“He threw a few guys out,” Little said. “There hadn’t been a whole lot of chances for him to do that this year. It was his third or fourth game catching for us, and he capitalized on his chances.”
Mock 6, Randolph 3
Mocksville seemed like roadkill early in the season – it lost its first five games – but a road win over Randolph County Red on June 19 added fuel for its climb back.
“Early in the year we did not have all of our guys,” Little said after the third straight win. “The first few games we had people at the beach or playing travel ball or whatever it was. The past few games we’ve had our whole squad there and we have finally pieced everything together. We’ve minimized mistakes and started hitting the ball.”
The visitors jumped all over Randolph in the top of the first. Two walks and an error brought McMurray to the plate, and he singled before Howard knocked in two with a double. A run scored on the second error of the inning, and Mocksville wound up batting around and scoring five on three walks and two hits.
Mocksville would only manage two more hits and one more run, but two pitchers were able to hold down the fort. Howard picked up the win by throwing 5.2 innings and leaving after 99 pitches.
“The last outing he had was really good,” Little said. “He just keeps getting better every time he gets on the mound. He was hitting all of his spots with the fastball. He was throwing the curveball where he needed to. He was on it. He had a little trouble with the walks (five), but he got out of it and trusted his defense.”
Sink had another impressive relief effort. He took over at a huge moment – bases loaded, two outs, 6-3 score in the sixth. The result was a punchout. He would throw 13 of 16 pitches for strikes on the way to another save.
“Britt is a level-headed guy,” Little said. “Us coaches were way more excited than he was (about the bases-loaded strikeout). He doesn’t let his emotions get too high or too low, which is a pretty good quality in a baseball player.”
The shortstop, Bost, punctuated the victory with an unassisted double play.
“They had a lefthanded batter, we played a shift on him and Bost was about two steps right of the bag,” Little said. “It was a one-hopper right at him. He made a throw on the run to first and (Jason) Riddle picked it out of the dirt.”
Riddle, who went 2 for 4, is batting third in the order for a reason. Bost went 1-2 with two runs and two walks. McMurray (1-3, walk) and Howard (1-2, two RBIs, walk) had the other hits.
“(Riddle) is tearing the cover off the ball,” Little said. “He just doesn’t stop hitting.”
Kann 11, Mock 1
Kannapolis, which buried Mocksville 12-0 on June 6, is at a different level. The second meeting on June 21 was the same story as host Kannapolis rolled 11-1.