Magic Along the Coast Once Again

The Oak Island Loggerheads hosted the Sandhills Bogeys on July 3rd for a coastal division duel. The two teams woke up that Thursday morning tied for second in the division, both sitting at 10-5. The Bogeys were riding a six-game winning streak while the hosts were also on a hot streak themselves, having won four games in a row. Both teams sat only a half-game back from the division leaders, the Jacksonville Ospreys, looking to close the gap.

The visitors jumped out to an early lead. Logan Dyer led the game off with a double, and Nolan Hull followed that up with a single. Charlie Muñiz was walked to load the bases with no outs. Peyton Starkey drove in the first via a sacrifice fly; Morgan Padgett then stepped up and dealt the final blow of the frame. The first basemen crushed a ball over the left field wall, scoring three and giving the Bogeys a quick 4-0 lead. 

The deficit was quickly cut down courtesy of a Justin Dawkins lead-off homer in the bottom of the first, but that was the only run the home team scored through the first two innings. However, the bats stayed hot for the visitors. A JD Scarborough extended the lead by one, a Starkey single and error allowed Tristan Hunt to score Starkey on a one-out fielder's choice. The lead was now 6-1 heading into the bottom of the third. 

The hosts again responded in no time, the bases were loaded with no outs via a hit by pitch and two consecutive singles. Mason Hughes dealt the first blow with a two-run single. A double play ended the inning, limiting the damage. The action hit a lull for an inning before the Bogeys extended their lead once again. Three singles to start the inning loaded the bases, Padgett stepped up once again and scored one runner. Hunt scored another via a single, but the second runner was tagged out. 

Teonis Pimentel cracked a lead-off homer in the top of the sixth in which seemed to be the final dagger to make the lead six runs. Dawkins hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the seventh to cut the deficit to four. The Loggerheads escaped danger in the top of the eighth, the bases were loaded; however, a strikeout followed by an inning-ending double play gave the hosts another chance to breathe. 

They took advantage of their opportunity by scoring three in the bottom half of the frame. Patrick Boldt lined a double to the gap, scoring two. He later crossed home via a Henry Stewart single to make the score 9-8, Sandhills Bogeys. 

A lead-off walk by Banks Hartman gathered some momentum for the hosts. A one-out double by Jakob Cowart put the tying run at third and the game-winning run at second. Up steps Mason Hughes, the infielder, looks at strike one before driving one to left field to walk the game off and give the Loggerheads a valuable win.

What’s Next

Old North State League action continues throughout July with the regular season wrapping up in just under two weeks.