BATTLE FOR THE TOP OF THE TIDEWATER

A heavyweight duel took place between Tidewater opponents Edenton Steamers and Tarboro River Bandits on Wednesday, July 9th. The visiting Steamers entered the game 14-5 and the leaders in the Tidewater division via win percentage over their opponents, the Tarboro River Bandits. The hosts were sitting at a record of 14-6 and had only lost one game in their last ten. The rights to first place were up for grabs.

The Steamer’s bats were hot to begin the game. Luke Alford destroyed a ball over the right field wall to give the visitors an early 2-0 lead. The division leaders added to their lead in the next frame, a leadoff single by Jack Cuba, who advanced to second via a fielder’s choice, was scored by a Jason Janesko single. Two consecutive singles loaded the bases, and Alford added two more RBIs to his stat sheet with a single to center field. The Steamers headed into the bottom of the 2nd with a 5-0 lead. 

The hosts were held at bay until the bottom of the 4th when they finally began to heat up, and heat up they did. Cam Greenway and Tyler Herb had respective singles to start the inning, and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with zero outs. Two consecutive walks cut the deficit to three. Savoi Edwards followed this up with a single to score two and give the hosts some added momentum with still zero outs in the frame. Ryan Lee discovered the dagger of the inning with a two-run homer on the next at-bat to give the River Bandits their first lead of the game. 

The visitors did not go away easily. Davis Halstead brought one run back with a lead-off solo homer in the top of the 6th. However, the hosts grabbed that run right back with a sacrifice fly courtesy of Edwards to score Gabe Gutter. Following the trend, Luke Alford cut the deficit back to one once again with a solo homer in the following frame. 

In the bottom of the 7th, Tarboro restored its two-run lead. Hayden Carpenter doubled on a line drive to center field to score Levi Medford, who got on base via a walk. The score was now 7-9 heading into the final two innings. An error allowed the Steamers to cut the lead to one run once again. The River Bandits were unable to score in the bottom of the eighth, allowing the visitors to tie it in the 9th. A two-out single by Oliver Zohn gave the visitors hope, but a ground ball to the second baseman resulted in a force play at second to end the game and give the River Bandits a win and the number one spot in the Tidewater division. 

What’s Next

The Old North State League wraps up regular season play over the weekend. The “You Can Go Home Now Cup” begins July 23rd with the Divisional Round of the playoffs.