LAURINBURG — The Scotland High baseball team opened the 2020 season by sweeping a doubleheader against a pair of Wilmington schools on Saturday afternoon at McCoy Field.
Scotland defeated Laney High 4-1 before finishing the day with a convincing 10-1 win over Ashley. Scotland pitchers Tyler Barfield and Lane Roberson picked up victories.
“Our pitchers pounded the zone in both games,” Scotland coach Chad Hill said. “Our defense played really well, and we had some timely hits.
“We put up a crooked number, four-spot, in the first game. Then we put up a three and a six (against Ashley). Any time you do that, you like your chances. But we definitely tip our hat to our pitchers and our defense.”
Scots top Bucs
Pitchers Tyler Barfield, Stewart Evans and Alex Hatcher combined for a three-hitter in the 4-1 win over Laney.
Scotland scored all four of its runs in the fourth inning. Those runs came from a pair of two-RBI singles; one from Matt Sellers, and another from Barfield.
Laney’s Gabe Soles scored from third base with the help of a Scotland error in the top of the fourth. Scotland had a chance to score another run in the fifth inning, but Matt Sellers was stranded at third base.
But a three-run lead was good enough for Scotland. Evans and Hatcher, working in relief of Barfield, closed out the game on the mound.
Evans helps lead Scots to win over Ashley
Stewart Evans drove in three runs and scored three more to help Scotland defeat Ashley 10-1.
Evans notched a home run and a double. his efforts helped the Scots provide plenty of run support for a combined two-hitter thrown by Lane Roberson and Parker Byrd.
“It started in the field house,” Evans said. “When we got to the fieldhouse everyone started bumping music. It really set the tone for the game. I was very hyper, very energetic, and I was ready to get out there.”
Byrd went 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk. Connor Seales added a pair of RBIs. Barfield and Jamari Wall recorded one RBI apiece.
Roberson yielded just one hit in five innings on the mound. He dealt three strikeouts and two walks. Byrd closed out the game by allowing one hit in two innings of work. Byrd recorded two strikeouts and one walk.
Ashley’s only run crossed the plate when Branton Jernigan scored from third base on Byrd’s wild pitch with one out in the top of the sixth inning. Scotland’s defense then used a double play to get out of a bases-loaded jam.
The Scots put themselves in the driver’s seat by scoring six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. That rally turned a 4-1 lead into a 10-1 rout.
Before that, Scotland scored three runs in the third inning. One of those runs was Evans’ solo homer over the fence in left field.
The Scots showed off their depth in the late stages of their win over Ashley. Several players who started the game on the bench were cycled into the lineup, and some of them played big roles in Scotland’s late surge. Seales, Christian Cole, Jackson Purcell, River Cheek, Jamari Wall and Teddy Roscoe and Titus Jones all came off the bench — but don’t call them reserves.
“Technically we don’t have starters and backups yet,” Hill said. “They’re still competing. But I liked what the starters did, and I liked what the guys that came in did. They had some good at-bats. All that does is make my job tougher when I write a lineup. That’s what I tell them that they need to do every time.”
Up next
The Scots will play two games this week against Sandhills Athletic Conference foe Jack Britt. The first game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Jack Britt, and the second game will be at the same time on Thursday at Scotland.
