North Duplin freshman right-hander Lilly Fulghum threw a complete-game, five-hitter against South Lenoir on Wednesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
South Lenoir first baseman Mary Beyer watches North Duplin pitcher Lilly Fulghum catch her first-inning, infield pop-up Wednesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Addy Higginbotham (2) is called out at second base during early-inning action against perennial 2A powerhouse South Lenoir on Wednesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
South Lenoir catcher Carley Boone tags out North Duplin’s Riley Hatch, who attempted to score in the fourth inning Wednesday evening. Boone’s tag was part of an inning-ending double play. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
CALYPSO — Advantage to the opponents … for now.
Once North Duplin finds its rhythm on the softball diamond, second-year head coach Jaime Kylis is content for now.
South Lenoir belted two home runs and squeezed out a 4-3, non-conference triumph over the Rebels on Wednesday evening. The Blue Devils improved to 6-3-1 in the series since 2014.
“We still haven’t had a full week of practice,” Kylis said. “We had our first game yesterday [Tuesday] and we’re still kicking off the rust. If this is how we’re going to start, I’m pretty excited about that.
“We ran into a team that probably had more practice than we did. I know they’ve had more games than we have. So, we’re playing teams that have a little bit of an advantage over us right now.”
The Blue Devils, the reigning East Central 2A champs, took a 1-0 lead during their first at-bat.
Reece Outlaw tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first. South Lenoir misplayed a routine fly ball to deep left field and Outlaw touched all the bases long before the relay throw entered the infield.
South Lenoir (1-2 overall) retook the lead on Gracie Howard’s solo home run. Teammate Makaya Sasnett extended the advantage with a two-run, fence-clearing blast in the fifth inning.
The Blue Devils touched right-hander Lilly Fulghum for five hits. The freshman logged six strikeouts and walked one in her second straight complete game inside the circle.
“She’s a freshman, so we need to remember she’s a 15-year-old kid,” Kylis said. “She’s going to go out there and she’s going to hang some pitches like we saw tonight. She did that yesterday [Tuesday at James Kenan] by giving up back-to-back doubles, and then struck out the next three.
“I’ve got to get into a rhythm with her. I’m learning her as a pitcher and she’s learning me as a coach. We’re close to being on the same page.”
North Duplin collected seven hits against South Lenoir’s tandem of starting right-hander Callie Thornton and reliever Mary Beyer. Thornton surrendered an unearned run in five innings.
Thornton forced the Rebels (1-1) to hit into inning-ending double plays in the third and fourth innings. One runner was gunned down at the plate after the Blue Devils committed an infield error.
Kylis’ team closed the gap to 4-3 in the sixth.
With one out, Addy Higginbotham delivered a single into left field. Fulghum followed with a base knock. Both runners scored on a passed ball before Beyer halted the threat with back-to-back strikeouts.
Freshman center fielder Marissa Bernal rapped a two-strike, one-out single up the middle in the seventh. Beyer, again, recorded consecutive strikeouts to earn the save.
“There’s some things we’re still trying to figure out like our chemistry in the lineup,” Kylis said. “We’ve got to work out some kinks.”
North Duplin gets a rematch with South Lenoir on Friday. Game time is 5 p.m. in Deep Run.
