The North Lenoir Hawks will head out on the road to take on the Midway Raiders at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. North Lenoir will be strutting in after a victory while Midway will be coming in after a defeat.
Last Tuesday, North Lenoir beat Wallace-Rose Hill 9-6. With that win, the Hawks brought their scoring average up to 6.1 runs per game.
Mason Sasser made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. What's more, he gave up only zero walks, the fewest he's had since back in April of 2024. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with two RBI. That's the most hits he has posted since back in May of 2024.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Ethan Smith, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Jayden Miller was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
North Lenoir kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That's the most hits they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Midway unfortunately witnessed the end of their four-game winning streak on Wednesday. They fell just short of Cape Fear by a score of 9-8.
Carson Tew was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run while going 2-for-3. He also put up a double, which was his first of the season.
The victory made it two in a row for North Lenoir and bumps their season record up to 4-3. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing 10.5 hits in those games compared to only 5.6 in the others. As for Midway, their loss dropped their record down to 5-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. North Lenoir has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Midway struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
