LUMBERTON — The top of the order fueled the Lumberton Gold Coach Pitch team, providing enough offense for the hosts to claim a 6-5 win over West Robeson American in the District 9 championship at the Ray Pennington Athletic Complex on Tuesday.
Lumberton built an early 6-1 lead after three innings with a trio of runs coming in the bottom of the first and third innings.
Luke Holmes and Channing Carter each scored a run in both the first and third innings, while Mason Locklear and Sam Smith added a run each during that span.
Leading hitters for Lumberton were Holmes, Smith, Carter, Locklear, Matthew Shackleford and Tanner Jackson with a hit each.
After the teams met previously in the tournament and Lumberton claimed a 1-0 victory with a run in the sixth inning, the championship matchup between the teams matched the same competitive level in the rematch. West Robeson scored three runs in the top of the sixth to put the pressure on.
West Robeson put two runners on with no outs, down 6-2 in the sixth inning, with leadoff man Cayden Locklear stepping into the batter’s box. Locklear lined a single to left field that made it past the defense to the wall to score all three runs.
The Lumberton defense retired the following three batters, including the final out attempting to take second on a ball to the outfield to close out the championship.
West Robeson’s Lucas Tyner and Kaleb Jacobs each had a pair of hits in the loss. Angel Chavis, Cayden Locklear and Will Conner added a hit apiece also. Chavis also scored two runs.
Both teams will go to the Coach Pitch state championship next weekend at Lockwood Folly. Lumberton opens the tournament on June 29 at 10 a.m., while West Robeson’s first game begins at 3 p.m.