Carolina holds off Deep River 10-8

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RAMSEUR — McKinley Stanberry survived a six-run first inning to go the distance on the mound while pitching his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth as the Carolina Coyotes hung on to defeat Deep River 10-8 in a wild Old North State League contest Thursday afternoon at I. Fletcher Craven Stadium.

Salvaging a victory in the final encounter of a three-game series with the Muddogs, Carolina raised its record to 10-13 in the league standings, while Deep River lost for just the second time in its last nine outings in falling to 13-10-1.

Stanberry was tagged for nine hits and eight runs (six earned) in addition to walking three and fanning five while getting the win. The right-hander threw a total of 122 pitches, including 73 (60 percent) for strikes.

Connor Barrett went three-for-three at the plate to lead the Coyotes’ 11-hit assault against Muddogs’ pitching, while Cort Maynard, Darden Eure and Kevin Greenwood all registered two safeties apiece.

“McKinley threw well after the first inning, got into his groove and put the ball where he wanted it to go while letting the defense make plays behind him,” said Carolina coach Riley Nelson. “The big key for us today was the ability to finally string hits together and move people around once we got them on base.”

Noah Carter started on the hill for Deep River and absorbed the loss after being rocked for 10 hits and eight earned runs besides walking one and striking out four over three-plus innings of work.

Warren Gay hurled two hitless innings in relief but was charged with a pair of unearned runs while issuing three free passes and whiffing three before Mike Williams allowed one hit over the final two frames.

Clay Richardson went three-for-four at the plate while Noah Handy added a pair of hits for the Muddogs.

“We got behind big-time early but responded to take the lead after one inning, yet after that we didn’t have many good at-bat approaches the rest of the way,” said Deep River coach Michael Milian. “Carolina hit really well today and we couldn’t find a way to shut them down, while their pitcher managed to settle down after the first inning and kept us off-balance the remainder of the game.”

The Coyotes came out swinging from the outset, with the first five batters collecting hits to help produce a five-run lead in the top of the first.

Maynard drilled a leadoff opposite-field double to the fence in right and moved to second on Eure’s base hit to right.

After Eure stole second, Chase Hetzel’s infield single plated Maynard and advanced Eure to third prior to the latter tallying when Greenwood grounded a single to left, sending Hetzel to second.

Barrett followed with a base hit to left to score Hetzel, and when the ball was misplayed in the outfield Greenwood continued home while Barrett ended up on third and came home moments later on Joe Carawan’s sacrifice fly to center.

However, the Muddogs would answer with a vengeance in their half of the inning to seize a 6-5 advantage.

Handy grounded a leadoff single to left and Easton Jones walked before both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch.

Richardson followed with a two-run double up the gap in left-center and went to third when Jordan Cassell rapped a base hit to left.

Cade Culberson then reached on an infield muff that allowed Richardson to score while courtesy runner Warren Gay went to second. Following a walk to Rafy Ortega, Ryan Hill brought in Gay with a sacrifice fly to right, and after Jordan Moss coaxed a walk to refill the sacks, Nathan Cockman lined at two-run opposite-field base hit to right.

Carolina managed to pull even in the visitors’ second as Maynard drew a leadoff walk, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and tallied when Greenwood slammed an opposite-field double into the right field corner.

The Coyotes then seized the lead for good by plating four runs in the top of the fourth.

After Maynard notched a leadoff single to left and stole second, Eure drove in courtesy runner Tyler Myers with a base hit to center.

Eure went to third when Hetzel reached on a throwing error before coming home on one-out back-to-back free passes issued to Barrett and Carawan.

Hetzel was thrown out at the plate attempting to score on a wild pitch, but following a full-count walk to Jordan Blalock, Barrett and Carawan came in to score on a throwing error.

Deep River picked up a run in the bottom half of the frame to pull within 10-7 as Handy belted a leadoff opposite-field double off the left field fence, advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home when Jones lofted a sacrifice fly to right.

The Muddogs threatened to reclaim the advantage in the home sixth as they loaded the bases with one away on singles by Jordan Moss and Jones sandwiched around Cockman reaching on an infield error.

But after Richardson drove in Moss with a base hit to left, Stanberry bore down and retired the next two batters on pop-ups to escape any further damage prior to setting the side down in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win.