Staff Reports

PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry may have managed just two hits against Surry Central ace Austin McLamb Tuesday, but it was all the Cardinals needed.

East picked up the big Northwest 1A/2A Conference victory 2-0 in a game which saw both teams combine for just six hits.

McLamb was on point all night for the Golden Eagles, but when the Cardinals did find a ray of light, they took advantage. The senior pitcher went the distance for coach Matt Scott’s team, struck out 11, gave up no walks, two hits and two runs, only one of which was earned.

Jordan Miller and Troy Jessup combined for the shutout for East Surry, with Miller pitching five innings, with five strikeouts, one walk, three hits and hit two batters, while Jessup came on in the sixth to pick up the save.

“It was a pitchers’ duel with a state playoff type atmosphere,” East Surry coach Barry Hall said. “Two quality teams going after each other in a tight game that could have gone either way. We were fortunate to get two runs. McLamb’s a quality pitcher, and he was more than we could handle, that’s for sure.”

East got its first run in the bottom of the third after Evan Smith led off the inning with a double. Devin Slate pushed Smith to third on a sacrifice bunt and Kyle Shinault hit a high fly ball to right field, with Smith barely beating a strong throw by Central’s Luke Harris at the plate.

“Smith did a good job of leading off the inning,” Hall said. “We preach ‘look fastball’ and he worked the count until he got one he could handle, then the other kids stepped in and did their job. You’ve got to do the small things to win games against good ball clubs and we did that tonight.”

The next run came in the bottom of the sixth, after junior Andrew Hunter reached on a two-out infield single. Hunter promptly stole second and third base, and when the Central throw to third went wild, Hunter came home on the error to make it 2-0 East Surry.

With so little opportunity for East to score, Hall said he and his staff were obviously happy the Cardinals took advantage of what was given.

“Everybody did their jobs,” Hall said. “We didn’t hit the ball tonight, but most of that is attributed to McLamb. Central is strong and we didn’t have overpowering pitching tonight, but we kept them off balance and we made a couple of good defensive plays when runners were on. That’s what it takes to win a quality ball game against a quality team.”

The loss drops Central to 6-3 in Northwest 1A/2A Conference play and 11-7 overall. East Surry moves above .500 in conference at 5-4 and is now 14-4 overall.

Golf

MVAC PLAYS IN WEST JEFFERSON: Elkin's Matthew Billings finished fourth, and East Wilkes' McKinley Johnson tied for seventh in the Mountain Valley 1A/2A's Monday outing at Mountain Aire Golf Course.

Billings carded a 39, while Johnson fired a 41 to lead their respective schools.

East Wilkes finished fourth in the team standings, while Elkin placed sixth.

West Wilkes won with a 163 tally, followed by Ashe County 164, Wilkes Central 168, East Wilkes 171, Forbush 173, Elkin 178, Starmount 182, Alleghany 188 and North Wilkes 229.

Wilkes Central's Kirk Mitchell was the individual medalist, firing a 34. Matt Elliott of West Wilkes was second with a 36, while Forrest Blevins of West placed third with a 38.

Forbush had two golfers in the top 10 individually, Matt Cain (41, tied for seventh) and Tyler Morgan (42, tied for 10th).

Elkin had a pretty even round as a team after Billings. Taylor West and Andrew Combs carded rounds of 46. Jonathan Stroud, Daniel McNeil and Austin Holloway all came in with 47s.

NORTHWEST TEAMS TACKLE PILOT KNOB: Although North Surry and Bishop McGuinness have led the way most matches, South Stokes gained a first-place finish in Monday's round, played at the par-35 Pilot Knob Park.

Jon Montgomery was the star for South Stokes with a 35 score, good enough for first place individually.

“Cody Hodges, Seth Covington and Justin Young all had great rounds,” North Surry coach Daron Atkins said.

“There are a lot of local golfers who are playing good, but it’s a team sport so unless you have four really good scores, it’s easy to lose strokes early.”

South Stokes tallied a 153 team score, followed by Bishop 154, East Surry 166, North Stokes 166, North Surry 168, West Stokes 171, Mount Airy 192 and Surry Central 195.

Cody Hodges of Mount Airy and Seth Covington of East Surry tied for second place with rounds of 36.

The next Northwest match will be hosted by South Stokes at Hemlock Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Colleges

SOFTBALL PLAYER NETS AWARD: Surry Community College pitcher Brooke Honeycutt was selected by the National Junior College Athletic Association as the Division I Softball Pitcher of the Week.

Honeycutt becomes the first Surry softball player to ever receive the award.

A sophomore from East Surry High School, Honeycutt had an outstanding week in the circle for the Lady Knights. On March 30, in a 3-0 win over Potomac State College (WV), Honeycutt went seven shutout innings allowing only one hit with one walk while recording 15 strikeouts. On April 2, in a 3-2 win over Region X opponent Florence-Darlington Technical College (SC), Honeycutt went seven innings allowing only two earned runs off five hits while striking out five and walking two.

The next day, the right-hander picked up her third win of the week in a 7-3 victory over Region X foe Southeastern Community College in the annual “Swing for Life” game.