By By LAWRENCE KEECH, Staff Writer
CHOCOWINITY -- Southside coach Linwood "Red" Lewis wasn't in the best of moods after Tuesday's 10-1 win over non-conference foe North Edgecombe, but it wasn't entirely his players' fault.
The lack of playing time and, in some cases, practice time left a sour taste for Lewis, which wasn't helped by his team's slow start.
Lewis watched as the Warriors (0-2) took a 1-0 lead after a one-out walk and a pair of hits in the first inning. Despite giving up the earned run, Southside starter Zack Squires, who struggled finding the strike zone at times, didn't give up. He recorded the first six outs of the game, all on strikeouts, and finished with 10 on the day.
Just after giving up a double to North Edgecombe's Bryan Andrews and a long fly to Brandon Johnson, Squires went crashing to the ground when a shot came right back at him, hitting the wrist on his throwing arm.
Lewis was afraid Squires, who broke his thumb at the end of football season and had just returned for baseball, would be out longer.
His teammates took control of the game in the bottom of the second inning when the first three batters drew walks. A passed ball, a balk and a wild pitch allowed T.J. Key and Kevin McRoy to score. Robbie Lee Chandler scored two batters later when Kevin Boyd grounded out.
Squires led off the third inning with a double and moved to third when Ryan Blackard hit into an error. Back-to-back throwing errors by the Warriors allowed Squires to score for a 5-1 lead. Blackard also scored in the third.
The game was called in the bottom of the sixth inning when North Edgecombe's players came on the field to shake hands and the umpires walked off the field.
Kevin Boyd came on in relief of Squires after the injury. Squires scored the Seahawks' final run after drawing a leadoff walk then moving to second on a throwing error. He took third and scored on the same wild pitch.
North Edgecombe coach Keith Parisher said, "I have a lot of players that haven't played baseball in about two years. I'm having to teach everything all over again."
Southside (3-1) will host Mattamuskeet today at 4:30 p.m.
North Edgecombe 100 000 x -- 1 6 8
Southside 132 40x x -- 10 2 1
WP: Zack Squires; LP: Brandon Johnson
N.E. -- Bryan Andrews 2-3 (2B); Brandon Johnson 1-3, Terry Lewis 2-3 (RBI); S. -- Kevin Boyd 1-4 (RBI), Zack Squires 1-2 (2B).