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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

The Mocksville Legion baseball team fell behind visiting Concord 4-3 in the top of the fifth, and it will remain 4-3 for at least three weeks.

The Southern Division opener was stopped by rain and lightning on June 3, and the suspended game will be completed as part of a doubleheader at Concord on June 24.

Mocksville got off to a flying start in the bottom of the first. With one out, a double by Andrew McAllister sparked a three-run uprising.

“He came in at the very last minute,” coach Tristan “Shaggy” Wyatt said of McAllister, who is a senior at Reagan High. “He committed to St. Andrews and I can tell he has abilities defensively and offensively to be one of the top guys for sure.”

After the double, Bryson Morrison reached on an error, Dan Loyd walked and Dakota Green drove in one with a single. Shawn Sealey and Tyson Combs followed with RBIs on a single and a groundout, respectively.

“In the past couple of games, Dakota’s been heating up,” Wyatt said. “It’s a good time for him to heat up. I told him he’s going to be my No. 1 catcher, so he’s going to have to be here game in and game out. He took that to heart and he’s been doing pretty good.”

Concord cut Mocksville’s lead to 3-2 in the second, and the visitors were ready to tie it up, if not surge ahead, in the fourth. But Sealey made a spectacular play at shortstop to strand two runners.

“He’s a really good shortstop,” Wyatt said. “He made a really, really good play when we were in a tough situation. He had to go to a backhand and he made a Derek Jeter/Manny Machado-type play. I don’t know how he did it. He backhanded it and threw it all the way to first. He had the Derek Jeter hop and the Manny Machado sidearm throw. I don’t know how he had the arm strength to get it there, but he got it there and beat the runner. That was a big game-saving play right there.”

In the fifth, Mocksville pitcher Cole Whitaker was one out from posting his fourth zero. Unfortunately, a Concord batter made him pay for leaving a fastball up, homering with one on and two outs. Moments later, lightning struck and the teams were pulled off the field. The game was suspended with 4.2 innings in the books.

“It was poorly timed for us,” Wyatt said of the lightning.

Both teams had four hits when play was halted. McAllister (1 for 1, walk), Green (1-2), Sealey (1-2) and Hunter Daywalt (1-2) had the Mocksville hits.

Notes: Two nights earlier, Mocksville’s record dipped to 2-3 following a dismal night at Kannapolis, which romped 10-0 to run its record to 5-0. Mocksville was victimized by Jalan Chambers, who went 4 for 4 with a homer, and pitchers Tanner Kaler and Will Hollmyer, who combined for the shutout.