Baseball Recap: North Lenoir Drops Season-High Score on Kinston

Winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask North Lenoir). Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Kinston Vikings an 18-0 shutout on Friday. The victory was nothing new for the Hawks as they're now sitting on three straight.

Mason Sasser was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out six batters over two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and only one walk). That's the first time he hasn't allowed a single hit since back in April of 2024. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April of 2024.

Blayden Pridgen

Hits (Career)

03/21/25 vs Kinston	3
03/12/25 vs Midway	2
02/26/25 @ Southern Wayne	2
04/30/24 vs James Kenan	2
03/18/25 @ Wallace-Rose Hill	1

In other batting news, Blayden Pridgen was a standout: he scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3. Those three hits gave him a new career-high. Ethan Smith was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-1.

North Lenoir was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .588. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .345 or higher in four consecutive contests.

North Lenoir's win bumped their record up to 5-3. As for Kinston, they are on a 22-game losing streak (dating back to last season) that has dropped them down to 0-7.

Looking ahead, North Lenoir will face off against C.B. Aycock at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. As for Kinston, they will take on South Lenoir at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.