LAURINBURG — A two-RBI single by freshman shortstop Parker Byrd proved to be the difference as Scotland’s baseball team defeated Purnell Swett 8-6 in the first round of the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament on Tuesday.
Byrd’s one-out single against Purnell Swett reliever Zack Carter allowed Matt Sellers and Tyler Faulk to score. Scotland’s Austin Norton surrendered a walk in the seventh inning, but he struck out Jonathon Jacobs for the game’s final out.
“Our motto right now is ugly wins are better than pretty losses,” Scotland coach Chad Hill said.
It was an ugly win for the Scots, and perhaps an even uglier loss for the Rams. Purnell Swett starter Jeremiah Locklear allowed just one earned run in five innings on the mound, but the Scots also scored four unearned runs against him with the help of several fielding gaffs.
With two outs and two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the third inning, Norton launched a fly ball deep into right field. Noah Locklear botched the catch, and two runners came home to score on the error, tying the score at 2-all after the Rams had scored two runs in the first inning. Stewart Evans, one of the runners who scored on the play, had reached base on another Purnell Swett error earlier in the inning.
Norton advanced to second base on the same error, and he then moved to third on a balk by Locklear. He scored on an RBI single by Zac Phillips, and Scotland took a 3-2 lead. The Scots added one more run to their lead on an RBI double by Stewart Evans in the fourth inning.
Purnell Swett found some momentum in the fifth inning. Blake Scott hit a leadoff double, and he moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Ashton Scott. Cameron Fields followed with an RBI triple to cut Scotland’s lead to 4-3.
After Zack Carter was hit by a pitch, Jalyn McIntyre hit a two-RBI double to give Purnell Swett a 5-4 lead.
Scotland evened the score at 5-all with a sacrifice fly by Norton in the bottom of the fifth, but the Rams took a one-run lead again with an RBI single by Blake Scott in the sixth.
Faulk tied the score for a final time with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Both teams finished with three errors. The Rams had a challenging night in the field, losing track of catchable balls in foul territory on several occasions. Those mistakes added to the frustration that stemmed from their slip-ups between the lines.
“We’ve been making those plays,” Purnell Swett coach Jeff Lamb said. “Missing fly balls — we did some things tonight we haven’t been doing. It costed us.
“But we battled. Congrats to them, they got it done.”
Parker Byrd finished 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs. He was hit by a pitch once. Faulk was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI. On the mound, Michael Johnson allowed eight hits and three earned runs while striking out three in 5 1/3 innings.
McIntyre finished with a double and two RBIs for the Rams. Locklear and Blake Scott also had one double apiece. Carter scored two runs. Troy McGirt tallied a run, an RBI and a walk.
Locklear tallied five strikeouts.
Scotland will face Pinecrest on Wednesday.
