Swansboro is 2-8 against West Carteret since May of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Pirates will look to defend their home field against the Patriots at 7:00 p.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Friday.
Swansboro was handed a heart-breaking two-run loss in their last contest, but they sure didn't let that happen against Croatan on Tuesday. The Pirates were the clear victors by an 8-2 margin over the Cougars.
Patrick Hollifield
| 04/29/25 @ Croatan | 13 |
| 04/15/25 vs Southwest Onslow | 9 |
| 04/11/25 @ Dixon | 12 |
| 04/04/25 vs Croatan | 7 |
| 03/27/25 @ West Carteret | 11 |
| 03/21/25 vs Richlands | 16 |
Patrick Hollifield was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out 13 batters over 6.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in March. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 4-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and one double. That home run marked the first that he has launched this season.
In other batting news, Josh Scott was excellent, going 2-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double.
Swansboro was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .387. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Croatan only posted a batting average of .185.
Meanwhile, West Carteret had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 15 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They never let the Wildcats get on the board and left with a 10-0 win. That's two games straight that the Patriots have won by exactly ten runs.
The result came thanks to Landon Quillen's shutout, as he gave up just two hits and racked up 13 Ks. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Lincoln Strump and Luke Jones did most of the damage at the plate: Strump went 2-for-3 with three runs, two doubles, and one stolen base, while Jones went 2-for-3 with five RBI. Another player making a difference was Austin Robinson Jr, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run.
Swansboro is on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 12 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for West Carteret, their win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-8.
Swansboro came out on top in a nail-biter against West Carteret in their previous matchup back in March, sneaking past 2-1. Will the Pirates repeat their success, or do the Patriots have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
