Local roundup: Lumberton softball tops Jack Britt, Ashley

Mar. 11—FAYETTEVILLE — The Lumberton softball team won on the road in back-to-back nights this week, beating Jack Britt in a United-8 Conference tilt on Friday after a nonconference win at Ashley on Thursday.

In Friday's game, Lumberton defeated Jack Britt 22-4 in five innings.

Lumberton (5-1, 1-1 United-8) scored three runs in the first, six in the second and 13 in the fourth; Jack Britt (3-2, 1-1 United-8) scored two runs each in the fourth and fifth innings.

Aniya Merritt was 4-for-4 with three RBIs for the Pirates. Tiara Stueck had two hits, with a double and three RBIs, and Jaelyn Hammond also had two hits. Carlee Register had a hit and three RBIs, Cameron Honeycutt had a hit and two RBIs and Alona Hanna, Emma Jones and Kaela Ortt all had one hit and one RBI.

Hannah Stefanko had a hit and two RBIs for the Buccaneers; Sophie Casagrande, Brianna Sloan and Ennovi Sandoval also recorded hits.

Halona Sampson pitched four innings with one earned run allowed and three strikeouts for Lumberton to earn the win; Ava Hanna pitched the fifth inning and allowed two runs with one strikeout. Jordan McCrimmon took the loss for Jack Britt.

In other Friday action, Lumberton baseball defeated Jack Britt 6-5.

The Pirates' Thursday win over Ashley was by a 4-2 score.

Lumberton scored single runs in the first, third, fourth and sixth innings; Ashley (2-3) scored single runs in the first and second innings.

Aniya Merritt had three hits with an RBI for the Pirates, Jaelyn Hammond had three hits, Alona Hanna had two hits with two RBIs and Emma Jones and Carlee Register each had hits, with Register earning an RBI.

Vayda LeQuire, Ragan Martin and Lara Granados each had hits for the Screaming Eagles.

Kaleigh Martin (4-1) was the winning pitcher for Lumberton, allowing three hits with three strikeouts. Griffin Pearce took the loss for Ashley.

Lumberton plays Tuesday at South View.

Fairmont earns convincing win over Lake View

Playing its second game this week against a perennial power in South Carolina high school baseball, Fairmont earned its second victory with a 7-1 home win over Lake View Thursday.

Fairmont (3-1) scored two runs in the third, one in the fourth and four in the fifth; Lake View (0-1) scored its only run in the fourth with a solo home run.

Kenley Callahan had two hits for Fairmont and four more Golden Tornadoes hitters had one. R.J. Deese scored twice; Nate Jones, Callahan and Josiah Williams each had RBIs.

Noah Parker allowed one run on two hits with 11 strikeouts in six innings for Fairmont, earning the win. Williams pitched a hitless seventh inning with one strikeout.

Fairmont opens Southeastern Athletic Conference play Tuesday at St. Pauls.

Cape Fear pulls away from Purnell Swett

A 10-run explosion in a two-inning span allowed Cape Fear to turn a deficit against the Purnell Swett baseball team into a 13-4 win over the Rams Thursday in Fayetteville.

Purnell Swett (1-4, 0-2 United-8 Conference) scored all four of its runs in the first inning; Cape Fear (2-4, 2-0 United-8) scored two in the second and one in the third to cut the Rams' lead to 4-3, then scored three in the fifth and seven in the sixth to blow the game open.

Purnell Swett was held to three hits, with one each by Malachi Gales, Waydan McMillan and Chandon Sanderson. Camden Hunt and Sanderson each had one RBI; Gales, McMillan, Jacob Chavis and Riley Locklear each scored one run.

Mason Hughes and Lucca Pascarella had two hits each for Cape Fear; Hughes had four RBIs and Hunter Darden had three RBIs and three runs.

Sanderson took the loss for Purnell Swett, allowing four earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings; Keithyn Hunt started for the Rams and allowed two runs on two hits in 1 1/3 innings.

Ethan Plesser started for Cape Fear and allowed three runs on three hits with eight strikeouts and eight walks in 4 2/3 innings; Hughes pitched 2 1/3 hitless innings with six strikeouts and earned the win.

Purnell Swett hosts Ashley in nonconference play Saturday.