Salamanders top Hi-Toms 4-1

Chris Baird, Triangle Sports Network

HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. – The Holly Springs Salamanders gave a sold out crowd another win at home, beating the High Point-Thomasville HiToms 4-1 at the North Main Athletic Complex on Saturday.

Coming off a 4-2 road loss to the Fayetteville SwampDogs the night before, Salamanders coach Andrew Ciencin believed his team was playing well with strong work coming from the mound, while the team’s bats were heating up.

“Last night, the score didn’t really dictate how we played,” Ciencin said.

“I think we counted six or seven balls hit on the screws, just right at people. That’s just baseball – you’re gonna’ get that. I was actually fine with that. I thought we played really well, but balls didn’t fall, and we really didn’t execute when we had guys in scoring position.”

A day later, the Salamanders (5-5) put the same work in, but got the breaks they needed against High Point-Thomasville (3-7).

The 2,007 in attendance weren’t disappointed as starting pitcher Brett Daniels (1-0) from UNC earned his first win of the season, and kept the HiToms bats in check, putting in six innings of work with one run against on five hits with four strikeouts.

The Salamanders only managed four hits off High Point-Thomasville’s three pitchers, but scored four runs as control problems from the mound and fielding errors, coupled with smart base running made the difference.

A productive third inning put Holly Springs ahead 3-1, and another run in the fourth gave the Salamanders the buffer needed to earn the win.

Strong relief support came during the final three innings from Chandler Sanburn (1 IP, 1 H), Jon Rosoff (1 IP, 2 H, 2 SO), and Collin Woody (1 IP, 1 H, 2 S) who earned his second save of the season.

Duke’s Daniel Calabretta, Campbell’s Drew Butler, and Charleston Southern’s Mike Sconzo, a Holly Springs HS product, each finished 1-for-2 at the plate, and along with UNC’s Brian Miller (1-3, 1 R, 1 H), all scored runs.

Robbie Thorburn (0-3, 2 RBI) and Woody (1-4, 1 RBI) were credited with the support that pushed their teammates across the plate.

The Salamanders will take Sunday off and continue their current home stand hosting Petersburg on Monday, and Martinsville on Tuesday.

Notes: Holly Springs currently leads the CPL in fielding percentage (.973) and assists (130)…On the base paths, the Salamanders currently sit third with 24 stolen bases on 29 attempts…As the team’s hurlers get more reps, they lead the league in runners picked off (4), while continuing to work on reducing the amount of hit batters (1st, 22) and wild pitches (3rd, 13) they are responsible for.

Boxscore – CPL