A strong pitching performance and timely hitting put the Nation Ford Falcons baseball team in the win column against the Buford Yellow Jackets.
Nation Ford won 7-3 over Buford to improve to 6-2 on the season in the non-conference win.
“I think the cold got to us in the middle innings,” said Nation Ford head coach Josh Corley. “I could see it in the dugout. One thing we are really good at is scoring in the first inning. We got a big performance out of Reid. He did really well. We gave some guys some opportunities to see what they can do.”
Buford jumped out early and scored a run in the top of the first off an error to allow a base runner and a double to put the Yellow Jackets ahead.
Nation Ford came back in the bottom of the first to score three runs grabbing the lead. A Buford error started things off for the Falcons allowing Jacob Neff to get on base. Noah Layton then singled and both would score on passed balls later in the inning. Alex Smith singled and eventually scored on an RBI single by Lawson Smith to put the Falcons up 3-1.
Buford picked up a run in the second inning off a couple of hits and a fielder’s choice, pulling within one.
Alex Smith drove in a run off a single in the bottom of the second inning as John McGovern and Layton both scored, one of them on an error allowing Smith to reach second.
Nation Ford threatened in the bottom of the third with a single by Blake Chatman, but he was left stranded on second base to end the inning.
In the fifth inning, Buford put two on with two outs off a single and a walk. The Falcons were able to get out of the jam as starter Reid Levesque regrouped forcing Buford to hit into a fielder’s choice. The bottom of the inning saw Alex Smith lead things off with a walk. Two passed balls later, he was standing on third when he was driven in by Michael Caropreso with a sacrifice fly giving Nation Ford another run.
Buford again started making things happen in the sixth inning with two outs as the Yellow Jackets loaded the bases. That led to Levesque being replaced by Cole MacIntyre, who would get the third out. Levesque went five and two third innings allowing two runs on five hits. He walked four and struck out three.
Nation Ford tacked on another run with a single from Chatman and walks to McGovern and Matt Scott. Connor Fowler, pinch running for Scott, scored on a passed ball.
Buford would get the run back at the top of the seventh and threatened with two men on, but was never able to score again as the Falcons picked up their seventh win of the season. MacIntyre went an inning and a third allowing one run on one hit, while striking out one and walking one.
Chatman went 2-2 in the game and Alex Smith, Lawson Smith, and Caropreso each had RBIs.
March 17 Roundup
The Nation Ford softball team fell to Indian Land on the road 6-2 to drop to 7-3 overall and 1-1 in Region 3-5A. The lone run for Nation Ford came off a home run from Jackie Knol.
The Nation Ford girls’ soccer team beat Indian Land 1-0 to improve to 6-1 on the season and 2-0 in Region 3-5A.
The Nation Ford girls’ lacrosse team beat Porter Ridge on the road 18-6 to improve to 7-1 overall.
The Fort Mill boys’ tennis team beat Nation Ford 4-2 to improve to 5-1 overall on the season. The loss dropped Nation Ford to 5-1 also.
The Fort Mill girls’ soccer team beat Rock Hill 6-0 to improve to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in Region 3-5A.
The Fort Mill girls’ lacrosse team fell to Charlotte Catholic on the road at 10-1 to drop to 1-3 on the season.
The Fort Mill boys’ lacrosse team improved to 6-1 on the season with a 7-5 road victory against Boiling Springs.
The Catawba Ridge boys’ tennis team beat Clover 6-0 to improve to 5-3 overall on the season and 4-2 in Region 3-5A.
The Catawba Ridge baseball team beat Northwestern 3-0 to open their series improving to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in Region 3-5A.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
