By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
Salisbury baseball teams haven’t lost to Lexington in this century, but Saturday’s 5-4 victory in a Cliff Peeler consolation game may have been the tensest and toughest to date.
Salisbury coach Scott Maddox, who took over in 2001, is 17-0 against the Yellow Jackets. This one won’t count in the CCC standings, but it’s a win he’ll remember long after he’s forgotten the 22-1 and 21-0 blowouts that occurred in recent seasons.
“I stayed calm for once,” Maddox said with a laugh. “I’ve been getting worked up every game, but I just decided we’re just so young there’s no reason to ó we’re gonna make mistakes. I am proud we came back today. Lexington’s vastly improved.”
The “road” team even though they were playing at Robertson Stadium, the Hornets (2-11) trailed 3-1 in the seventh but rallied for three runs.
After Lexington answered to force extra innings, SHS scored the deciding run in the eighth when Jordan Fuller’s sharp single scored pinch-runner Daman Bowman.
“Coach Maddox always tells us not to be afraid to fail,” said Fuller, a junior catcher. “I went up there seeing the ball all the way, and I got a good shot up the middle.”
Kyle Wolfe’s hit set up the winning run. Wolfe moved around to third on a wild pitch and Forrest Buchanan’s bunt. Then Bowman ran for him.Sophomore lefty Philip Tonseth (1-2) went the distance. He allowed 10 hits but no walks. After Lexington (1-13) scored three runs in the first, Tonseth was sharp.
“Maybe Philip was a little nervous, but once he saw he could do it he settled down,” Fuller said. He didn’t throw many bad pitches all day.”
Neither did Lexington’s Teland Todd, an outstanding quarterback headed to UNC Pembroke and a good basketball player whom Maddox called “the best athlete in the CCC.”
Todd took a two-hitter into the seventh. Lexington led 3-1 when Jeremy Forbis walked with two out. Todd had two strikes on pinch-hitter Nolan Meyerhoeffer when his roller struck the second-base bag for a strange single. Then it was QB against QB ó and Salisbury’s John Knox drilled a run-scoring double to left. Russ Michalec followed with a ground single past the shortstop. It scored two runs and SHS led 4-3.
Lexington tied it in the bottom of the seventh. Todd’s two-out single, his third hit, got that rally started.