WHS survives ’Hawks
From staff reports

Watauga’s baseball team took a big lead and then held on to take a 9-8 victory over West Wilkes at Watauga’s field Saturday.

The Pioneers led 9-4 going into the final inning, but West Wilkes rallied for four runs before Watauga finally shut the door on the Blackhawks for good. It is the second time in four days that Watauga beat West Wilkes, having taken an 8-2 win last Wednesday in Wilkes County.

Watauga rapped out 14 hits, including three doubles by Baine Martin and three RBIs by Chris Shelton, who also went 2-for-2 one day earlier in Watauga’s win over A.C. Reyn-olds. Shelton went into the weekend hitting .154, but improved his average to .454 when he was finished.

Austin Story, who got the start on the mound for the Pioneers, helped himself offensively by going 3-for-4 from the plate with an RBI. Every Pioneer who batted got at least one hit against the Blackhawks.

Watauga got to Jordan Johnson early when Martin opened the bottom half of the first inning with a double.

He scored on a Trey Lowder fielder’s choice to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead.

Watauga added to it with a Shelton RBI single in the second, and a Johnson balk with the bases loaded in the third to put the Pioneers in front 3-1.

Phil Gordon drove in another run in the third with a fielder’s choice and Shelton added his second RBI single of the game to increase Watauga’s lead to 5-1. West Wilkes struck back in the top of the fifth with a three-run rally keyed by a two-run single by Scott Gambill, but Lowder took over for Story and got a strikeout to end the inning.

Story scattered seven hits, struck out two and walked two in his 4 2/3 innings pitched.

Watauga added a run in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI double by Martin to put the Pioneers in front 6-4. Shelton delivered his third RBI of the game in the sixth inning with a squeeze bunt, which was followed by an RBI single by Story and Martin’s second RBI double, this time driving in Gordon and giving Watauga a 9-4 lead.

West Wilkes rallied in the top of the second when Brad Wingler tripled and scored on an infield hit by Logan Hallock. After Josh Zumbrook was hit by a pitch, Gambill drove in Hallock with a single and Zumbrook scored on a fielder’s choice by Minton. Another fielder’s choice, this time by Jason Shepherd, drove in Gambill, but the rally stopped there when Lowder got a pop up to end the game.