If the sky’s the limit for East Lincoln High’s baseball team, the Mustangs are already in the clouds.
East Lincoln captured its 11th win in 13 games when the Mustangs prevailed 8-4 over rival North Lincoln on April 6.
The victory pushed the Mustangs’ record to 9-0 in Southern Piedmont 1A/2A conference play. East Lincoln entered the Shelby Invitational Easter tournament with more momentum than ever, coach Chris Matile said.
The Mustangs’ triumph over the Knights was no easy accomplishment.
Down 4-2 in the sixth inning after two second-inning errors, East Lincoln started a rally.
Cam Carter and Danny Sullivan singled, followed by doubles from Nick Dyer and Cory Petersen. The four straight hits enabled East Lincoln to pull ahead 5-4 entering the final inning.
From there, the Mustangs padded their lead at the plate, and held on defense.
Sullivan’s two-run double keyed a three-run seventh inning that proved to be too much for the Knights.
“The boys did a great job of staying focused, chipping away and then putting them away when they had the chance,” Matile said. “Our offensive execution was great in the sixth and seventh innings. Addison Parrish and Darin Salter did a great job on the mound, keeping us in the ballgame, and after a sloppy second inning our defense played great behind them.”
The victory keeps the Mustangs in first place in the league.
Mustangs, Knights split county track titles
Thanks to a combined five individual wins from Bubba McDowell and Jesse Earnhardt, East Lincoln High’s boys track team won the Lincoln County Championship Meet on April 4.
Earnhardt won the long jump and triple jump events, while McDowell swept the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes.
The Mustangs’ 127 team points earned the boys title. North Lincoln was second with 91.
In girls track, North Lincoln (81 points) took home the top prize thanks in part to Allie Castro’s wins in the 1600- and 3200-meter races.
The Knights’ girls bested East Lincoln (71 points), West Lincoln (59) and Lincolnton (43).
Mustangs girls soccer takes fourth league victory
East Lincoln High’s girls soccer team faced tough competition early in the 2012 season. The Mustangs lost to three teams who had 10 wins in their first 13 games: South Iredell, Catawba Bandys, and Lake Norman Charter.
In the past six games, East Lincoln has won four, pushing the team’s record in Southern Piedmont 1A/2A conference play to 4-1.
East Lincoln’s 1-0 win over Cherryville on April 4 set up the Mustangs with a Friday, April 13 game against Central Davidson at 6 p.m.
Knights boys tennis prevails over Rebels
In their final match before spring break, North Lincoln High’s boys tennis team picked up some momentum.
The Knights corralled a 6-0 win over Southern Piedmont 1A/2A conference rival West Lincoln. In the process, North Lincoln improved its mark to 2-2 in league games and 5-5 overall.
North Lincoln’s top player, Evan Peaire, knocked off the Rebels’ Cory Cook 8-1. Brian Lehman followed suit, posting an 8-5 win over Matthew Carpenter. Brendan D’Amato (8-1 over Luke Webb), Justin Sherwood (8-1 over Hunter Green), Desmond Jones (8-3 over Aydan Heavner) and Chris Garcia (8-1 over Kendall Ramsey) also collected victories for the Knights.
Doubles play was cancelled because of lightning.
The Knights’ next meet is an April 17 SPC game against Lincolnton.
– Aaron Burns
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