Laney came out swinging against Ashley on their way to a 12-2 win.  Photo: Eric Bartsch

Baseball

Hoggard 5 - New Hanover 4

In the past two weeks, the Hoggard Vikings have now beat their in-town rivals, Ashley, Laney and New Hanover by a combined three runs.  Three games that could have gone either way, but didn’t.  A clutch hit, key play in the field, or in Friday’s case, solid relief pitching in the late innings has carried them through.

Scott Coleman came in and slammed the door on the New Hanover Wildcats which had come back to tie the score at four in the bottom of the fourth, and Marc Crecco’s game winning hit in the top of the fifth for Hoggard was the difference as the Vikings remained unbeaten.

It looked like it may be all Hoggard as they plated four runs in the top of the first and put the home team in an immediate hole.  New Hanover rallied for single runs in the second and third, before tying it with two in the fourth.  Hoggard skipper Jeep St. Ledger would say afterward, “We jumped out early, may have hit a comfort zone, they were scrappy and fought back.”

But as they have all year, Hoggard responded, seemingly with a different hero each game.  With the speedy Adam Honeycutt on first, Crecco said, “I knew when I stepped up to the plate the hit and run could be on, it was a great call by Coach.”  With Crecco’s timely hit plating Honeycutt and Coleman settling into the groove on the mound, the Vikings found a way to win again.

They key to good baseball teams often seems to be their ability to do the little things.  The intangibles.  The Vikings got that.  Like they kind of remind me of the 2004 Red Sox.  It was a Dave Roberts stolen base, not a Manny Ramirez home run that sparked the comeback over the Yankees.  With that team different guys stepped up in a multitude of ways; they found a way to win.  That’s how Hoggard rolls.  As Crecco put it, “We’ve been clutch down the stretch.  We’ve won a lot of one run ball games, we just stay focused all game.”  

The Vikings are now 12-0, while New Hanover is checking in with a sub-.500 league record which won’t get them into the playoffs.  New Hanover head coach John Thomas said, “I felt like our pitching did well enough to win the game, but we had some down moments in each phase of the game.”  New Hanover’s record may not be indicative of how good this team is.  “It is frustrating.  It is tough losing the close ones.  He just haven’t played a complete seven innings.  One or two innings have cost us.”

Laney 12 - Ashley 1

After suffering two tough one-run losses, the Laney Bucs have bounced back with two impressive wins including Friday’s 12-1 win at Ashley.

Laney got on the board early, loading the bases with one out in the top of the first.  After Bob Hiatt’s fielder’s choice ground out plated a run, Jeremy Bland’s single scored another giving the Bucs a 2-0 lead which proved enough support for Jeff Ferrell who was bringing it on the hill.

Ashley could only muster one run on the night as the Buc offense continued to score.  With the win, Laney improves to 7-3, 4-2 in the Mideastern Conference while the loss halts Ashley three game winning streak, as they sit at 3-2 in the league.

Girls’ Soccer

East Chapel Hill 4 - New Hanover 1

After falling behind 2-0 to the state’s fifth ranked team, New Hanover put on surge in the second half getting a few scoring chances, and Erin Koballa finally came through in the 57th minute.  After chasing the ball down near the end line to the right of the ECH goal, Koballa scored from a near impossible angle narrowing the gap to 2-1.

That, however, would be a close as the Wildcats would get as they gave up two late goals and fell 4-1.  New Hanover is now 8-4, 4-3 in the league and will play Ashley, their first non-ranked opponent in five games, on Monday.

Boys’ Lacrosse

Ashley (2-4) lost in overtime, 3-2, to Athens Drive.