By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Looking for a new dojo may be the order of the day for the Boone Bigfoots. The local Coastal Plain League franchise got schooled, 20-6, by the visiting High Point-Thomasville HiToms on July 24 at Smith Stadium, on an entertaining “Cobra Kai Night” for the more than 1,100 fans in attendance.
The night started out with a bang for fans, quite literally, as a stunt demonstration team from the Cobra Kai TV show performed, breaking blocks of wood and demonstrating various fighting skills and assorted other weapons.
Pushing across a run in the bottom of the first inning and three more in the second, Boone led 4-2 after three full innings of play, but a 6-run explosion by the HiToms in the fourth inning erased the deficit and gave the visitors a lead they would never relinquish. Although the Bigfoots added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, the HiToms piled on in the top of the sixth and seventh innings, scoring 12 unanswered runs to trigger the CPL’s “mercy rule.”
HPT’s middle reliever Royce Aurderhar, a Lexington, N.C. native playing collegiately for Catawba College, was credited as the winning pitcher while giving up two runs on three hits in 2.1 innings. Boone’s middle reliever, Ian Squires, picked up the loss, giving up five runs on five hits in 2.0 innings of work.
Altogether, three Bigfoots pitchers (Jacob Lauderdale, Squires and Evan Long) gave up 17 earned runs on 17 hits in their combined seven innings of work. Will Papciak started on the mount for the HiToms, but was pulled after 2.2 innings. The Davidson College righthander threw 85 pitches in just 2.2 innings of work, facing 19 batters over that span. Dylan Christensen closed out the game for HPT, giving up one hit while shutting out the Bigfoots over the final two innings.
KEY OFFENSIVE PERFORMERS
- HPT – Davis Halstead: 3-3, 3 runs, 2 RBIs, 3 walks, 2B
- HPT – Jake Kernodle: 3-4, 2 runs, 3 RBIs, 3B, SB
- HPT – Jackson Owen: 2-3, 2 runs, 5 RBIs, 3 walks
- HPT – Josh Foulks: 2-5, 2 runs, 3 RBIs, SB
- HPT – Brantley Truit: 3-6, 3 runs, 3 SBs
- HPT – Brantley Willis: 3-4, 3 runs, 2 RBIs
- BBF – Tristan Salinas: 2-3, 2 RBIs
- BBF – Jake McCutcheon: 1-3, 3 runs, 2 RBIs, HR, 2 walks
- BBF – Carter Bergman: 1-3, 1 RBI, 2B, walk, SB
BONUS PHOTOS
(all photographic images by David Rogers for High Country Sports)
