The baseball played Wednesday night between Lenoir City Middle School and North Middle School was far from poetic.

North came away with an 11-8 win over the Panthers despite each team allowing just three earned runs. The two teams combined for 12 errors.

"I think they get in their minds they're going to make mistakes instead of just going after it and playing hard," Panthers coach Donald Balcom said of the high number of errors in the game. "I think it's more in their mind than their athletic ability."

Lenoir City was able to strike first. Logan Henry reached on an error and scored on a triple by Luke Martin to take a 1-0 lead.

The North Stars responded in the second, scoring four runs in the inning.

Justin Selivege doubled to right, stole third and scored on an error by the third baseman. Phillip Perkins reached on the error, advancing on a walk by Zane Bowen. A single by Cody Brandy loaded the bases and Noah Neil drove in two runs on a double. Nick Plemons hit a sacrifice fly to score Brandy.

The inning came to an end when Neil was picked off on a throw from the catcher to third.

North extended the lead in the third inning when Parker Simpson scored on an error by the shortstop after walking and stealing his way around the bases.

Lenoir City rallied back in the third. Chris Witt walked, advancing to second on a passed ball and scoring on a single by Henry.

With two outs, Michael Gray was able to reach on an error by the first baseman, Henry. Gray later scored on an error by the short stop with the bases loaded. North led 5-4 after three innings.
A pair of dropped fly balls in left field helped the Stars drive across two more in the top of the fourth, taking a 7-4 lead.

Back-to-back walks by Henry and Martin, followed by a double from Andrew Gettelfinger, pushed two more runs across for the Panthers. Gettelfinger scored on an error by the catcher as he tossed the ball over the head of the pitcher with the runner on third.

With the game tied 7-7, North saw four more runs, all unearned, come across in the top of the fifth and final inning.

Micah Strange, running for Perkins, scored on an error by the second baseman, Bowen scored on a ground out by Plemons, but had advanced into scoring position on an error. Brandy and Neil both scored on an error by the center fielder.

Lenoir City's Bernard Indrajaya scored on a ground out by Luke Martin in the bottom of the fifth, but Lenoir City could do no more damage despite loading the bases with one out.

"We're young, but they've got a lot of heart," North coach Jeremy Massey said. "You see a lot about a team when you get behind and get in a little trouble."

Henry pitched 4 2/3 innings for Lenoir City, striking out seven and allowing just three earned runs on five hits.

"Logan is our best pitcher," Balcom said. "When he's on he looks really good. His knuckle ball worked really well tonight."

Selivege pitched three as a starter for North, allowing one earned run on four hits and striking out five. Parker Simpson allowed two earned runs on one hit in relief.