No. 10 Lee County scores 13 unanswered runs to down No. 19 Cape Fear
A day before sliding head first into conference play, No. 10 ranked Lee County stared down an 8-0 deficit on its home field.
From the bottom of the second inning on, the Yellow Jackets left no doubt, flipping the game on its head and claiming a 13-8 victory over No. 19 Cape Fear in a battle of two of the early favorites in the 3A classification's eastern region.
The Colts loaded the bases with nobody out to start each of the game's first two innings.
Brody Jackson scored Mason Hughes on a sacrifice fly to right, and Evan Bunce rocked an RBI single into center for a 2-0 advantage.
A bases loaded walk, a passed ball, and a dropped ball in center brought home three runs with nobody out in the top of the second. Bunce put an exclamation point on the six-run frame with a two-run double to left.
Ahead 8-0, Cape Fear saw Lee County slowly pick away at its lead.
Four walks, an error, a hit batter, and an RBI triple from BJ Brown helped the Yellow Jackets erupt for five runs in the second.
Quickly, it was a brand new ballgame at 8-8 after thanks to a two-out rally that featured a bases-loaded walk and a pair of dropped pop-ups on the infield.
Blake Carlyle slashed a two-run single the other way, and another free pass with the bases juiced stuck a six spot up on the board in the third.
The 11-8 held firm until the bottom of the fifth when Seth Beal doubled in a pair to help his own cause on the mound. Beal entered early in relief, and held the Colts' bats silent in the middle innings to earn the win. Junior reliever Gavin Swann slammed the door with two scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh.
Now 2-0 overall, Lee County hosts Union Pines on Tuesday night to open up Sandhills Conference play. Cape Fear dropped to 3-1 with the loss, and will return home on Tuesday to host Lumberton.
