North Lenoir’s Raven Fisher focuses on a pitch thrown by Rebekah Howard during Wednesday’s contest. Photo by Junious Smith III / Neuse News

By Junious Smith III

LA GRANGE |North Lenoir has gotten stronger as the season’s progressed, but South Lenoir looked to keep status quo.

The Blue Devils closed out their regular season with an 8-3 victory over the Hawks Wednesday. South Lenoir (10-6, 9-3 Eastern Carolina Conference) clinched second in the conference, guaranteeing a first round NCHSAA playoff contest in Deep Run.

“We were a little rusty early on, but the girls came through,” South Lenoir coach Lisa Smith said. “This game meant a lot, as we were trying to clinch second place outright.”

North Lenoir (5-12, 3-8) looked ready for the challenge early with Catherine Palmer’s leadoff double in the bottom of the first. Two batters later, Katelynn Daughtey’s grounder was mishandled to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. South Lenoir benefitted from an error after Rebekah Howard’s single in the second to tie it up and then took the lead in the fourth after Macy Sanderson’s grounder was bobbled, followed by a fielder’s choice to give the Blue Devils a 3-1 advantage. North Lenoir responded in the bottom of the frame with Lark Collins’ RBI triple and Erica Andrews’ two-out run-scoring single to tie the game at 3.

From there, South Lenoir took over, starting in the fifth with a leadoff double from Sara Beth Stroud and an Allie Parker walk. Logan Lucas’ grounder brought one run in and the Blue Devils pushed another after an error on Megan Aldridge’s ground ball. An inning later, South Lenoir scored another run off an error and Mallory Dawson added a 2-run single to put the Blue Devils ahead 8-3.

“We had to have each other’s back in the game,” Dawson said. “We started to relax and trust each other more — I knew if I got on base, Macy would come behind me and make a play. We just kept pushing and had good teamwork.”

Howard pitched the last 3 1/3 innings for South Lenoir, allowing just one walk and no hits as the Blue Devils go into the postseason with momentum.

“We just have to keep this going into the playoffs,” Parker said. “Anything can happen there, so as long as we stick together we should be fine.”

North Lenoir closes the regular season against Kinston Thursday and despite the loss, Hawks coach Ashley Heath said the future looks bright.

“The break really helped us to cool down and we were able to hold (South Lenoir) off as long as we did,” Heath said. “We’ve come a long way since last year and have gotten better as the season’s gone on. We’re still a very young team, but they’re growing together and know what I expect from them. The skill is definitely there — we can be as good as any team in the conference — it’s about mastering the mental portion of it to mix with the physical.”

North Lenoir had a lone senior on the team, Raven Fisher.