The Hartsville Red Foxes got West Florence into an 11-2 hole Friday night on the baseball diamond at Jimmy White Park in Kelleytown and held off a seventh-inning rally by the Knights to get an 11-10 win.
The Foxes hit well once again and have recorded double-digit hit counts in five of the first seven games this season.
They jumped out to an early lead by scoring four runs in the first inning Friday night on hits by Brandon Beans and James Easterling.
Hartsville then scored one run in the second, two in the fourth and four more in the sixth inning while holding West Florence to only two runs through six innings.
Hunter Privette started the game and pitched well for the Foxes. Privette gave up two runs on three hits while getting five strikeouts and only walking two batters.
In the seventh inning, Fred Henning replaced Privette on the mound and the Foxes led 11-2.
Henning struggled, however, as he gave up six runs on four hits in one-third of an inning of work. Hartsville also had two fielding errors that added to the rally for West Florence.
Cody Mincey replaced Henning and finished out the game. West Florence scored two more runs, and eight total. but Mincey struck out the last batter and left a West Florence runner stranded on third base.
Easterling led the Foxes at the plate as he went 3-for-4 on the night. Seth Lowe was 2-for-4 for the Foxes as well. Second baseman Dylan Usher was also 2-for-4 on the night and recorded a solo homerun.
Hartsville head coach Tony Gainey was frustrated with the final inning. “I’m shell shocked,” he said. “With a team like that, you can’t ever think you’ve got it.” He said he put some of the players from the bench into the game, but the mistakes came from the more season veterans on the team.
However, Gainey said the team was impressive for the first six innings of the game. “It was great (in the beginning),” he said. “We hit the ball and played smart.”
Gainey also said Privette pitched a good game. He said, despite the mistakes in the final inning, the team hit the ball very well. “That’s their mentality,” he said. “They take pride in it.”
The team’s record improves to 3-4 on the season and 2-1 in region play. They faced South Florence Tuesday night. The Foxes will take the field again tonight as they face Darlington in Darlington at 6:30 p.m.
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