Baseball Game Preview: Neuse Charter Cougars vs. North Duplin Rebels

Neuse Charter hasn't had much luck against North Duplin recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Cougars will be playing in front of their home fans against the Rebels at 6:00 p.m. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Neuse Charter is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They never let Union get on the board and left with a 14-0 win on Tuesday. The Cougars not only won on Tuesday, but they posted their biggest win since April 9, 2024.

Connor Phillips was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 3-for-3.

Eli Edwards

Stolen Base (Career)

04/01/25 @ Union	2
03/18/25 @ North Duplin	1
03/12/25 @ Falls Lake	1
04/16/24 vs Hobbton	1
03/19/24 vs North Duplin	1

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Eli Edwards, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Will Denning also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.

Neuse Charter was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .381. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in three consecutive contests.

Hobbton typically has all the answers at home, but on Tuesday North Duplin proved too difficult a challenge. They blew past the Wildcats 10-4. The Rebels might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three matchups by six runs or more this season.

Wesley Holmes and Noah Price did most of the damage at the plate: Holmes scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3, while Price scored three runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. North Duplin is 2-1 when Holmes posts two or more runs, but 3-4 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Noa Quintanillia, who went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.

The victory got North Duplin back to even at 5-5. As for Neuse Charter, their win (their first of the season) made their record 1-9.