Piver’s home run gives Stallions
seventh straight conference win

South Columbus pitcher Dusty Duncan (above) handles a ground ball hit back to the mound and catcher Dakota Piver (below) removes his mask to watch an infield pop-up in Friday night’s Waccamaw Conference baseball game with the visiting North Brunswick Scorpions. Duncan pitched a complete-game shutout and Piver provided the game’s only run when he led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a home run shot over the leftfield fence. The 1-0 victory put the Stallions’ season record at 14-6, including a 7-4 record in Waccamaw Conference play. Coach Willie Gore’s Stallions have won seven straight conference games and will close out their Waccamaw Conference schedule tonight when they travel to Rocky Point to take on the Trask Titans at 7.

Staff photos by Mark Gilchrist

VINEGAR HILL - Dakota Piver led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a home run to leftfield, and Dusty Duncan retired the side in the top of the seventh inning with tying and go-ahead runs on base as the South Columbus Stallions came away with a 1-0 baseball victory over Waccamaw Conference opponent North Brunswick Friday at the SCHS field.

The shutout marked the seventh straight conference victory for Coach Willie Gore’s Stallions, who had opened conference play with four straight losses.

“After getting off to such a slow start in the conference, it’s good to see our kids keep battling like they have over the past three or four weeks,” Gore said. “We’re capable of beating anybody we play, but we also realize that we’re capable of losing to anybody we play.”

Gore said he felt his team came out flat and was unable to take advantage of some early scoring opportunities against the North Brunswick team.

“We just didn’t seem to be real sharp a lot of the time tonight,” said Gore, whose team had suffered a 6-2 loss to North Brunswick in their earlier conference meeting. “But we got a good pitching job from Dusty Duncan and we came up with some plays on defense that really helped us out. Then Dakota’s home run was huge for us.”

The Stallions made the defensive play of the game in the top of the fifth inning when centerfielder Cory Harris retrieved a long Scorpion drive off the fence, threw to cut-off man Donovan Watts, who fired home to Piver at catcher to nip the NBHS runner who had sprinted all the way from first base.

South Columbus, now holding a 14-6 season record, will close out its conference schedule tonight at 7 when it travels to take on the Heide Trask Titans at Rocky Point.

The Stallions will entertain West Columbus on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a non-conference game.

North Brunswick closed its season with a 6-6 record in Waccamaw Conference play.