by L. Griffith

SUFFOLK
The Southampton Indians Varsity Baseball team held a 2-1 record during the fifth annual King’s Fork Invitational Spring Break Tournament this week. The Indians’ record on the season now stands at 7-2 overall and 4-0 in the Tri-Rivers District.

Southampton’s lone loss of the tournament took place on Saturday afternoon versus the eventual champions of the tournament, the Oscar Smith Tigers. Starter Jeffrey Peden threw three effective innings, but some shaky defense and timely hits for the Tigers were too much for the Indians to overcome. The Tigers defeated the Indians 6-0. Southampton earned two hits on the day, one from Carter Johnson and one from Nash Warren.

Southampton turned around on Monday night to play the I.C. Norcom Greyhounds from Portsmouth. The Greyhounds were no match for the Indians on the day. Southampton won the game 12–2 in 6 innings. The Southampton pitching overmatched the Greyhound offense as they did not give up a hit. Cameron Belter earned his first varsity win on the mound, while Colby Turner and Josh Haydu threw in relief to complete the combined no-hitter. Warren and Wesley Pierce led the offense with two hits apiece and Desmond Banks, Jayton Billups, Keith Crocker and Colby Turner also added a hit a piece.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Indians were able to defeat the Deep Creek Hornets by a score of 6-1. Warren started on the mound and earned his third win of the season. He had nine strikeouts on the day and gave up four hits in five innings on the mound.

Pierce came in and earned the save on the day. He threw two innings and struck out three while giving up two hits. Offensively, Jesse Martin reached four times via a hit by pitch. Not hard to say that he earned his run scored on the day. Warren led the team with two hits, including a leadoff triple in the sixth inning. Elliott Cross, Dale Vick and Belter added a hit a piece on the day.

The Indians travel to Surry on Tuesday, April 25, and to Greensville on Thursday, April 27.