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| John McDaniel regained his form and left after nine with the score 1-1. Mocksville finally prevailed, 5-4 in 11 innings. |
Needless to say, Mocksville needed a strong performance from pitcher John McDaniel. The tall righthander provided that and ended a miserable personal stretch in the process as Mocksville pulled out a spirited 5-4 decision in 11 innings.
There were two unlikely stars. In the second, Ryan Hellard doubled home the only run of the first six innings. It came in his first official at-bat of the season. Bryan King saved the game with a two-out, two-strike single in the bottom of the 11th. It came in King’s second official at-bat of the season.
“I feel like we stole one,” coach Mike Lovelace said after Mocksville erased a 3-1 deficit in the 10th and a 4-3 deficit in the 11th. “We had a lot of guys do things they haven’t done all season. We found a way to scratch and claw.”
McDaniel and Brown baffled the offenses in a pitchers’ duel. Brown struck out nine, gave up one unearned run and held Mocksville in check from the third through the ninth. McDaniel also went nine, striking out 14 and walking two.
McDaniel looked like his old self after suffering three shaky appearances.
“He’s finally in game shape,” Lovelace said of the Pfeiffer star who was first team all-conference as a true freshman. “He’s going to have to be our workhorse once a week from now on.”
Oh, and McDaniel stifled South despite working nine intern hours earlier in the day at Ingersoll-Rand - outside in the heat, no less.
“He was really good,” he said. “That’s probably the way he threw at Pfeiffer all year. He threw changeups at any time. The one thing he changed is he pitched a lot inside. He had the breaking ball working. And he had the giddy-up like he’s had.”
Mocksville improved to 7-6 overall and 3-4 in the division. South slipped to 5-5 and 5-2.
Leadoff man Zach Vogler was a crucial factor, going 3 for 6 with a double and triple. That’s hardly a surprise. He’s hit safely in seven of eight games, a span in which he’s 13 for 33 (.394).
Brad Corriher didn’t get a hit, but walked twice. Seth Miller singled and drew two walks. As it turned out, Hellard played a critical role, his two-out double scoring Ryan Carter for the 1-0 lead. It ... subscribe to the Davie County Enterprise Record, P.O. Box 99, Mocksville, N.C. 27028.