ND shuts out Kirk, then loses by 1 in DH

By Brad Greer
Walking batters is somewhat like playing with matches. Sooner or later you’re going to get burned.
The North Delta Green Wave took advantage of seven walks by Kirk while riding the pitching of Luke Noah to win the first game of a doubleheader over the Raiders 3-0 Thursday.
Kirk avoided getting swept by winning the second game 8-7 in eight innings.
North Delta (9-4, 2-1) got all the runs it would need in the fourth inning by scoring three runs after two were out in the inning.
Brayden Locke led off the frame by getting hit by a pitch. Following two flyouts, Lige Simmerman was also hit by a pitch before Brandon Henson recorded North Delta’s first hit with a single to load the bases.
Zach Dugger produced the Green Wave with a walk to force in Locke. Luke Daniels kept the inning alive with a sharp single into left to drive in Simmerman and Henson.
That would be all the run support Noah would need as the junior limited the Raiders offense to four hits while walking three and fanning two over seven innings.

Noah worked his way out of jams in four of the seven frames as Kirk had runners at the corners with two outs but could not scratch across a run.
North Delta managed four hits in the game but left 11 on base including the sacks full in the second and fifth innings. Noah and Tyler Holland each singled in the sixth only to be left stranded.
Kirk 8, North Delta 7
Warner Herring’s solo homerun to lead off the eighth inning capped the Raiders’ come-from-behind victory in the nightcap.
For North Delta it was a game they would love to have back as the Wave squandered numerous chances to put the game away. North Delta out-hit Kirk 12-7 but left 16 men on base including the bases loaded four times, the last being in the bottom of the eighth.
Kirk trailed 7-4 before adding one run in the sixth and two in the seventh to send the game into extra innings. The tying run came in on a balk with two outs in the seventh.
The Raiders jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first before North Delta responded with a run in the bottom half of the frame on a Simmerman sacrifice fly that plated Noah.
North Delta sent nine batters to the plate in the second inning that produced four runs as they surged ahead 5-3. Hunter Houston got the rally started with a one-out walk followed by three straight singles and Simmerman’s second sacrifice fly.
The Green Wave tacked on two more runs in the third for a 7-3 lead as Locke, Noah and Holland registered consecutive singles. Simmerman drove in his third run of the game with a walk. North Delta had the bases loaded with one out but could not add to its lead as the next two batters struck out.
Locke and Holland led the North Delta offense with three singles each while Noah added two singles and scored a pair of runs. Henson, Daniels, Houston and Eli Robb also provided singles. Brunson Wolfe scored a run in a courtesy running role.
Holland started the game on the hill for North Delta and went 5.1 innings, giving up four runs (one earned) on four hits while fanning seven and walking four.
Daniels followed with 2/3 inning. Robb was tagged with the loss after going 1.1 innings. Shawn Payne pitched to one batter in the eighth and got out of the inning on a double play.
North Delta rounded out a busy week on the diamond by losing to Independence 8-6 Friday.
The Green Wave returned to district play last night by hosting Lee Academy then will travel to Clarksdale Thursday for a double header beginning at 4 p.m.