Devils down Gators on diamond

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on March 12, 2011 11:06 PM

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SEVEN SPRINGS -- Spring Creek knows it has plenty of work to do before Carolina 1-A Conference play begins in two weeks.

Three Gators' pitchers combined for 12 walks and Spring Creek committed three errors in a 15-8, non-conference loss to South Lenoir on Friday evening.

"Any time we score eight runs we feel like we've got a chance," said Spring Creek head coach Heath Whitfield. "You just can't walk 12 batters and expect to win."

Sammy Herring's three-run home run in the top of the first inning gave the Devils a 3-0 lead. Spring Creek climbed to within 3-1 on Eric Mosley's RBI single in the bottom of the second inning.

Will Janning's sacrifice fly and Wyatt Janning's two-run single in the home half of the third put the Gators in front 4-3. Wyatt Janning, Duane Gurganus and Zach Harrell all had two hits.

South Lenoir used four hits and three walks to push across five runs in the top of the fourth inning. Josh Harris' RBI single capped the outburst and put the Devils in front 8-4.

Gurganus' RBI groundout in the bottom of the fourth inning cut the margin to 8-5.

South Lenoir added a run on Paul Mill's RBI double in the top of the fifth. The Devils erupted for six more runs in the top of the sixth inning. South Lenoir benefited from three walks, an error and a wild pitch and had just two hits during the six-run sixth inning.

"The walks hurt us bad," said Whitfield. "A bunch of those scored I know. That's the most we've walked since I've been here. We've just got to keep working. Hopefully we'll iron some things out before conference play."

Ricky Brayboy hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning trimmed the deficit to 12-8.

The Devils tacked on a pair of runs on four hits and an error in the top of the seventh inning. Herring and Spencer Harrison both had three hits for South Lenoir.

The Gators (1-4 overall) travel to Southern Wayne on Monday.