Jun. 27—The weather didn't want to play nice last week, forcing the Sanford Spinners to call off three scheduled games before finally returning to action for two weekend games after a six-day layoff.
The good news for the home team is that the nearly week-long enforced shutdown didn't cool the Spinners off. They had won five in a row before the rain came, and once it left, they scored two more victories over the weekend, holding off the High Point Hushpuppies 5-4 on Saturday and then routing the Sandhills Bogeys 12-4 in a Sunday evening contest, both on the road.
The two wins allowed the Spinners (12-4 overall, 11-4 Old North State League) to keep their stranglehold on the ONSL's Central Division. The Spinners lead the Bogeys (13-8, 10-8) by four games in the loss column following Sunday's victory. No other team in the division is closer than five games to the Spinners.
Games against the Bogeys are always must-see action for the Spinners, as the two teams battled for the title a year ago, with Sanford as the ONSL's top team in the regular season, only to see the Bogeys win the playoffs and the league title in their first year as a league member. The two teams are less than a half-hour apart, and the Spinners themselves are only in their third season. Sunday's game saw Sanford set the tone early, as Cam Cole led off the game with a walk and then Gage Bibey hit the first pitch he saw over the left-field fence for a 2-0 lead. Later in the inning, singles by Kanyon Gagich and Adam Joseph netted a third run.
From there, the Spinners led the rest of the way, although the Bogeys kept tit close until a five-run top of the sixth gave the Spinners a 9-3 edge. Seven different Spinners hit singles in the half-inning. A three-run ninth simply added insurance as the team took a 2-1 season series edge over the Bogeys going into a late Monday game against them at Tramway Park.
Joseph went 3-for-5 with a run scored and RBI in the win, while Gagich was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI; Andrew Shadburn 2-for-4 with two runs scored; Stephen Kriner 2-for-5 with two runs scored; Deyon Cannwon 1-for-3 with three RBI; and Cole 1-for-3 with two runs scored and three walks. Pitcher Brady Nathison tossed 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in the middle innings.
In Saturday's win over the Hushpuppies, the Spinners jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning and again never trailed, but High Point (6-11, 5-11 ONSL) kept it close. After the Hushpuppies scored twice in the fifth, two more Spinners runs in the seventh were just enough. High Point made it a one-run game in the eighth and then came up in the ninth with a chance to overtake the Spinners, but Brice Herring retired the side with the help of a game-ending double play turned by Joseph, who played shortstop in this contest.