Three Darlington pitchers combine to no-hit Lee Central
By Don Gearhart
The Stallions from Lee Central made the bus ride to Darlington looking for a Non-Region victory. Lee Central scored a run without a hit in the first inning when a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and an error allowed the run to score. The Stallions would only get one more player on base the remainder of the game.
Darlington, meanwhile, was held scoreless for the first two innings. All that changed in the bottom of the third. Shane Oliver opened that frame with a triple. He scored when Dontavious Wilson stroked a base hit. Shemar Simes cleared the bases with a long homerun to put the Falcons ahead for the first time in the game. Gage McKenzie then got aboard on a base hit followed by walks to Chase Watson and Bryson Britt. McKenzie was awarded a run when the Lee Central pitcher committed a balk. Three more walks occurred with four more runs scoring on wild pitches Another run scored on an error after Oliver collected his second hit of the inning. An error enabled Simes to reach base safely and McKenzie drove home Oliver with a base hit. Watson’s base hit plated Simes. The final run of the inning occurred when Eli Steele singled home Watson. In the inning, Darlington scored thirteen runs. Every player in the lineup batted twice during the inning, collecting seven hits and getting six walks around a couple of Stallions errors.
With a 10-run rule already in effect, the Falcons ended the game even earlier with a 15-run rule after four innings. They did this in walk-off (or run-off as the case might be). Wilson led off with a base hit and Simes followed with another base knock. McKenzie ended the game when he hit an inside-the-park homerun to make the final score 16-1.
Caleb Clark started on the mound for the Falcons pitching just the first inning. Joseph Galloway pitched the next two innings for the win, and Torion Davis pitched the final inning.
McKenzie and Wilson each had four hits for Darlington and Simes and Oliver collected two hits apiece.