In a battle of local and regional baseball rivals, Lake View’s Wild Gators edged the Latta Vikings 5-4 on Tuesday night in Latta.
The Vikings took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when John Kever Love hit a fielder’s choice to score Josh Bowen. Chandler Morrell got the next run for Latta in the second, and Donell Stanley added a run in the third and scored Travis Power in the fourth to give Latta a 4-0 lead.
Lake View got on the board in the top of the fifth with a run from John Michael Brown off a single from Steele Mendenhall. In the sixth, Chris Ford made it to third on a single from Nate Lewis and scored on an error. John Michael Brown then singled to bring in Lewis to cut Latta’s lead to 4-3.
In the top of the seventh, Steele Mendenhall and Chris Ford both got to base on walks, and Lewis hit a double to score both to give Lake View a 5-4 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Latta’s Buck Terry singled and made it to second on a hit from Ben Scott with two outs. Josh Bowen hit to right field where Lake View snagged the ball for the out to end the game.
John Michael Brown pitched five innings for Lake View, allowing five hits, two walks, and two runs, striking out two. Nate Lewis pitched two innings with two hits, two runs, one earned run, and two walks.
On the mound for Latta, John Kever Love pitched six innings for six hits, three runs, one earned run, and five outs. Travis Power pitched one inning, allowing one hit, two runs, two earned runs, and two walks while striking out one.
Nate Lewis led Lake View at bat, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs, and one run scored. John Michael Brown went 2-for-3 with an RBI and one run scored; Steele Mendenhall went 1-for-2 with an RBI and one run scored; and Eric Munoz went 1-for-4. Chris Ford scored two runs in the win. Lake View had a total of seven hits and five errors.
At bat for Latta, Buck Terry went 2-for-4; Chandler Morrell went 1-for-3 with one run scored; River Owens went 1-for-3; Josh Bowen went 1-for-5 with one run scored; and Jeremy Jenkins and Ben Scott each went 1-for-4. Scott and John Kever Love each picked up an RBI, Travis Power scored one run, and Donell Stanley scored one run with an RBI. Latta had seven hits and three errors in the loss.
Lake View’s overall record improves to 7-2 with a 6-2 record in Region 8A. Latta’s record for the season is now 9-3 with a 5-2 region record.
Lake View is scheduled to travel to face Carvers Bay tonight at 5:30 p.m. The Wild Gators will be back at home to host Hemingway on Tuesday, April 3, at 5:30 p.m.
Latta will next participate in Cheraw’s Spring Break Tournament on April 2 and 3. The Vikings return to regular season action on Tuesday, April 10, when they travel to Green Sea-Floyds to face the Trojans.
