New Hanover Baseball wins big in Game One, 8-4

BURLINGTON, NC (NCHSAA) – The New Hanover Wildcats returned to the NCHSAA Baseball State Championship Series for the second consecutive year, facing a fellow returning team, the Crest Chargers for this year’s 3A crown after both finished runners-up a year ago. In game one, it was the Wildcat bats that stole the show as New Hanover jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back on the way to an 8-4 victory in game one of the best-of-three series.

The Wildcats opened the game with a leadoff double by Jac Croom, before back-to-back one out doubles by Kyle Smith and Brett Kemp plated the game’s first two runs. New Hanover tacked on three more in the second to stretch the lead to 5-0 on a Max Hildreth three-run homer.

Crest chipped away at the lead, scratching out one run in the bottom of the second and another in the third. The Chargers got on the board with an RBI double by Riley Cheek in the second that plated CJ Mayhue. It was a bases loaded walk pushed across another run in the third to make it 5-2 in favor of New Hanover.

The Chargers made things very interesting in the bottom of the fourth, plating two runs and cutting the Wildcat lead to 5-4. John Kyle Mitchell singled but a throwing error let Cheek make his way home from third to cut the lead to 5-3. Then Mayhue singled to right field to bring Mitchell around from second for the second run of the inning.

New Hanover loaded the bases in the top of the sixth with two away, but the Chargers couldn’t work out of the jam. Croom singled to right field to bring in a pair of runs, pushing the New Hanover lead out to 7-4.  The Wildcats tacked on an insurance run in the seventh as Alex Sniffen drove home Kyle Smith with one out in the seventh on a single to left.

Blake Walston went 6.1 innings for the Wildcats, eventually replaced after a lengthy weather delay. Walston allowed four runs, three of them earned, struck out six while walking three and scattering eight hits.

Crest dropped to 27-4 on the year while New Hanover improved to 27-1 on the season. The Wildcats can close out the best-of-three series with a win Saturday. Game two is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at Burlington Athletic Park on Saturday.