While Pine Forest didn't have the best season last year (they finished 12-15), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. Everything went their way against the Western Harnett Eagles on Wednesday as the Pine Forest Trojans made off with a 12-1 win. Considering the Trojans have won three contests by more than ten runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Ja'Lynn Thomas made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing Two bases. while going 2-for-3. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in doubles (two).
J.J. Watson
| 03/12/25 vs Western Harnett | 2 |
| 03/07/25 vs Westover | 1 |
| 04/01/24 @ Pamlico County | 1 |
| 03/08/24 @ Westover | 1 |
| 03/07/24 vs Fairmont | 1 |
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on J.J. Watson, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs, one triple, and two RBI. Those two hits gave him a new career-high. Landen Thompson was another key player, scoring three runs and stealing a base while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
Pine Forest always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .571. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Pine Forest's victory was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-2. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Western Harnett, they are on a seven-game losing streak (dating back to last season) that has dropped them down to 0-6.
Pine Forest will have a chance to go back-to-back against Western Harnett: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
