Leopards sneak past Cats in diamond 4-3

A Sampson County Carolina 1A Conference battle unfolded at Lakewood on Tuesday night as the Lady Leopards hosted county and conference foe Hobbton on the softball field in their first meeting of the season. An entertaining game unfolded before the fans as the scoring was back and forth. In the end, it was Lakewood that rallied from behind late in the game and claimed the victory, 4-3.

Softball

Hobbton lit up the scoreboard first during Tuesday’s outing, staking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Abby Simmons got a 2-out triple and scored on an errant pitch to give the Lady Wildcats the early lead.

That score held up for the next couple of innings before the Lady Leopards drew even in the bottom of the third. Fancy Bullard got a hit going for a single and was moved over on a hit by Danica Carter. Later in the inning, Bullard came home on a passed ball and the score was all tied up 1-1. Then, a flyball by Anna Cashwell scored Carter, and Lakewood claimed the lead, 2-1.

In the top of the fourth, Hobbton went back ahead on a pair of RBIs. Getting things started was Vanessa Juarez laying down a sacrifice that scored Gracie Jones, making it 2-2, then Claire Meyer scored Kaitlyn Rodriguez to put the Lady Wildcats back in the lead at 3-2.

Again, there was a pause in the scoring as defense took over throughout the next couple of innings.

But that’s when Lakewood came up with some late-game heroics. Hannah Register got a 2-out hit that went for extra bases as she reached third base. Another passed ball proved to be beneficial when Register came in for the score, tying the game up again at 3-3. The Lady Leopards stranded the go-ahead run, however, and the game shifted to the seventh inning all tied up.

Juarez got into scoring position for Hobbton, but she was stranded there on a strikeout that ended the inning.

With the game now in the bottom of the seventh, Kenley Cannady got Lakewood’s offense going when she drew a 1-out walk. Cannady then took second base on a passed ball and was moved over to third on another hit by Bullard. Carter was back up at the plate next, who hit the game-winning RBI that scored Cannady for the 4-3 victory.

With the win, Lakewood is now 4-6 overall and 1-2 in Carolina 1A Conference play.

Hobbton, with a big win over Union, is now 3-8 overall and 1-1 in Conference play.

Soccer

Over on the soccer field, it was utter domination by the Lady Wildcats, who shut the Lady Leopards out to secure their eighth win of the season. At halftime, the margin was 6-0 in favor of Hobbton and then with 23:51 left in the second half, the Lady Wildcats reached the 9-0 margin, which ended the game with the mercy rule. Paired with their win against Union on Thursday, Hobbton is now 9-1-1 overall.