By Andrew Millaway
Sports Correspondent

The norm for Elkin and East Surry baseball games over the past few years has been close battles, usually decided by one or two runs.

Friday night looked to be more of the same, but the Buckin’ Elks struggled late and allowed East Surry to explode for a 12-6 win.

The Cardinals from Pilot Mountain pulled away, scoring three runs in the fifth, two in the sixth and five in the seventh. All of Elkin’s runs came in the sixth and seventh, but they proved too little, too late in the key Northwest 1A Conference battle.

“They were the better team tonight.  We just couldnt get hits when we needed them,” Elkin coach Steve Martin said of the game which dropped his team to 6-8 overall and 5-6 in the conference.

East Surry got on the board in the first inning with a two-run double.

Elkin starting pitcher Ethan Creed buckled down from there and held the Cardinals scoreless until the top of the fifth when Walt Tuttle and Logan Needham went back to back with RBI doubles to make the lead 4-0.

East Surry took their lead to 7-0 later in the frame after a two-run double from Logan Needham.

The Elks would finally get on the board in the bottom of the sixth on a Josh Carter RBI single that scored Matt Hinson.  Luke Martin knocked David Tilley in on a fielders choice later in the inning to make the score 7-2. 

Ethan Creed added two more runs for the Elks on a double that drove Dakota Longworth and Dalton Swaim home. 

The seventh inning started on a rough note for the Elks when Troy Jessup hit a deep fly ball that dropped right in front of the 367 sign in center field.  Jessup flew around the basepaths to get the inside the park homerun. 

The Cardinals would keep scoring and added four more runs to the board to go into the final half inning leading 12-4. 

A familar face took the mound for the Cardinals in the bottom of the inning, Dillon Wilcox, who pitches for the Elkin summer league team. Wilcox was a member of the 2007 summer league state championship squad.

Wilcox hit Kyle Whitman, Matt Hinson, and David Tilley — all summer league teammates -- to load the bases. Whitman scored on a walk issued to Longworth.  Hinson then scored on a fielders choice from Luke Martin to cut the lead to 12-6. But that is all the Elks would get.

The Cardinals improved to 11-6 overall and 8-4 in the conference with the victory. One of those four conference losses came to Elkin earlier in the season.

“We hit the ball well tonight,” East Surry coach Barry Hall told The Mount Airy News. “We’re hitting the ball much better the past couple games. Hopefully, we can continue the next couple games.”

Creed took the loss for Elkin, pitching 4.2 innings, allowing four hits and striking out six.

Josh Carter finished 1-for-4 for Elkin, while Tilley was 2-for-3. Needham lead the charge for the Cardinals going 3-for-4 with three doubles and six RBIs.

East Surry 12, Elkin 6

Friday • at Elkin

East Surry 200 032 5 — 12 11 1

Elkin 000 004 2 — 6 4 1

WP: Cody Rodgers; LP: Ethan Creed