The Lake View Wild Gators knocked out Mullins 13-1 on Wednesday, April 6, before taking down region rival Johnsonville 14-3 on Friday to take first place in Region 8-A.
On Wednesday, Lake View traveled to Mullins for a 13-1 win over the Auctioneers.
The Wild Gators started things off with three runs in the first inning, including a home run from Hunter Walters. They added three in the second, and seven in the third to secure the win. Mullins scored their only run in the third.
Lake View had three pitchers across five innings. Shawn Lewis pitched two, allowing three hits, one run, one earned run, and two walks. He faced 11 batters and struck out four.
John Michael Brown also pitched two innings, giving up only one hit. He faced eight batters and struck out three. A.J. Hyatt also pitched one inning, facing four batters and striking out two, allowing no hits.
The losing pitcher was Kenny Jackson, pitching three innings for Mullins with eight hits, 13 runs, five earned runs, and two walks. He faced 26 batters and struck out only one. Ethan Allen also pitched two and a third innings for the Auctioneers, facing eight batters and striking out four, allowing no hits.
Leading hitters for Lake View were Zack Allen, 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBIs; Hunter Walters, 1-for-2 with a home run, two runs scored, and four RBIs; Steele Spivey, 2-for-4 with two runs scored; and Cody Cox, 1-for-2 with two runs scored.
Chris Ford went 1-for-4 with one run and an RBI and Jordan Miller went 1-for-3 with one run and an RBI. A.J. Hyatt scored one run, and Eric Munoz scored two.
Batters for Mullins included Ethan Allen, 1-for-2 with one run scored; Heath Gerald, 1-for-1 with one RBI; Sean Rabon, 1-for-3; and J.R. Serna, 1-for-1.
The win improved Lake View’s overall record to 13-1, but the main event was still to come on Friday, when Lake View traveled to Johnsonville to take on the Flashes.
The Wild Gators started with one run in the first inning, but Johnsonville tied the game 1-1 in the second. But Lake View clenched the win in the fourth with ten runs, including two home runs. Johnsonville added two more points in the fifth, but Lake view capped the game with three runs in the sixth to give them the 14-3 win.
Hunter Walters was the winning pitcher for Lake View, pitching in all six innings and allowing four hits, three runs, three earned runs, and three walks. He faced 27 batters and struck out five.
Linc Powell was the losing pitcher for Johnsonville, going three innings for four hits, six runs, four earned runs, and one walk. He faced 16 batters and struck out one. Wes McCutcheon pitched one-sixth of an inning for five runs, two hits, two earned runs, and two walks. L. Daniel pitched one and one-sixth innings for four hits, three runs, and two earned runs, striking out one. Z. Phillips also pitched one-sixth of an inning, facing two batters for no hits.
Eric Munoz was a leading batter, hitting his first home run of the year for a grand slam. He went 1-for-2 with four RBIs and one run scored. Walters also hit a home run, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBIs. Jordan Miller went 2-for-3 with three runs and Zack Allen went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Cody Cox went 1-for-2 with three runs scored and two RBI.
A.J. Hyatt went 1-for-2 with one run, and David Townsend and Steele Spivey each scored a run with an RBI.
Johnsonville’s batters included Z. Phillips, 1-for-2 with one run and an RBI; Adam Venters, 1-for-2 with one run and two RBIs; L. Powell, 1-for-2; Wes McCutcheon, 1-for-3; and C. Barnhill, 0-for-1 with one run scored on a walk.
Lake View’s record improves to 14-1 overall and an undefeated 9-0 in Region 8-A. The win also marks the first time since 2006 that the Wild Gators have swept the Flashes in the season series. They previously defeated Johnsonville 8-7 on March 15, 2011.
Coach Kip Herlong said the Gators played well against one of their biggest rivals, “and I’m very proud of our guys.”
Lake View will next travel to Carvers Bay tonight at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, they’re scheduled to host Pee Dee Academy in a non-league bout at 6:00 p.m.
