RAMSEUR — The Randolph Lumberkings took advantage of wildness by Carolina starting pitcher Pres Ostert and made the most of three hits while riding the arms of Tyler Bryant and Austin Thompson to a 6-2 Old North State League win over the Coyotes July 15 at I. Fletcher Craven Stadium.
The triumph lifted Randolph to 15-6-1 for the season, while Carolina slipped to 9-11.
Thompson, making his first appearance of the summer for the Lumberkings, replaced Bryant on the mound with two outs and runners on second and third in the bottom of the fourth and allowed one hit with no runs while walking one and striking out one over the final three and one-third innings to receive credit for the victory.
Bryant hurled three and two-third innings, surrendering four hits and a pair of earned runs in addition to issuing one free pass and whiffing five.
“Hitting has been a problem for us lately, but whenever an opponent gives us free passes we’ll take them and try to capitalize,” said Randolph coach Brandon Nelson. “Sometimes you don’t need a lot of hits to get a win, and that was the case this evening as the few we got were all effective at driving in runs.”
Nelson added that his team’s pitching was equally as important.
“Tonight was a rehab outing for Tyler and he knew when he reached his pitch-count limit he was coming off the hill,” he said. “Then Austin came on in relief and did a great job putting up zeroes on the scoreboard.”
Ostert went three innings on the mound and was saddled with the loss after only giving up one hit but was charged with four runs (two earned) while walking six and striking out four besides uncorking five wild pitches.
Coyotes’ reliever Caleb Staley tossed the last four frames, yielding two hits and a pair of earned runs in addition to issuing three free passes and fanning seven.
“Walks and wild pitches killed us tonight as Pres struggled to find the strike zone and get ahead in the count,” said Carolina coach Riley Nelson. “We had some good swings against Bryant but we’re not getting hits with guys on base, while the three hits they managed all drove in runs.”
With the aid of walks and wild pitches in the top of the third, the Lumberkings forged a 4-0 lead as Justin Wernowski drew a leadoff free pass and moved to second on a one-out wild pitch before advancing to third on a groundout.
After Wernowski dashed home on a wild pitch, back-to-back walks to Nick Roets and Zeke Lecomte put runners on first and second prior to Claytin Beaver driving in Roets with a base hit to center, while Lecomte continued home on an overthrow from the outfield that allowed Beaver to end up on second before the latter came around to score on a pair of wild pitches.
The Coyotes trimmed their deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth as Cort Maynard and Chase Heltzel opened the frame with consecutive singles prior to Carolina loading the bases with two away when Jordan Blalock was nicked by a pitch.
Austin Gilley then drove in the two lead runners with an opposite-field double into the left field corner.
Randolph picked up a solo run with one away in the visitors’ fifth as Beaver launched a 1-0 offering from Staley over the left field fence for his first round-tripper of the season.
The winners proceeded to add an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Nate Vargo drew a leadoff walk, stole second with one away and scored on Lecomte’s opposite-field base hit to right.