Pineville Porcupines take second place in the division, defeating Lake Norman 12-2 in seven innings

Pineville Porcupines 2B Alex Lerch (#6)

The Pineville Porcupines looked to extend their divisional win streak to five games and to take second place in the Mountain Division with a big victory over the Lake Norman HarborHippos and that’s exactly what they did.

Things started off rocky for the Porcs however, as an error by 2B Alex Lerch would allow an unearned run to come across in the first before Braden Hitchcock knocked in another run with an RBI double in the second for an early 2-0 Lake Norman lead.

But it was all Pineville from there, as a two-out rally in the third saw the Porcupines accumulate five straight hits to send four runs home to take a 4-2 lead that would never be relinquished.

RHP Billy Baxter would then come in during the fourth and not record a single out as six straight Porcupines would reach base and Pineville would add on five more runs, with the aid of a couple of errors.

The HarborHippos would threaten to score runs a couple of times throughout the rest of the night, but were held at bay by RHP Isias Moreno, who would end up lasting six innings while allowing just three hits, three walks, and on earned run while striking out eight batters.

Pineville Porcupines SS Braden Mauro (#31)

At the plate, 1B Corbin Wright and RF Jack Coletti each racked up two hits apiece while 2B Alex Lerch and SS Braden Mauro both contributed a couple of RBIs.

Things got a little scary in the top of the seventh as the Porcupines looked to seal up their second-straight run-rule victory when Lake Norman was able to load the bases with zero outs.

However, RHP Tanner Lewis was able to work out of the jam, allowing zero runs to come across as the night was finished off by an outstanding 5-3 double play to give Pineville the 12-2 victory.

The play capped off an all-around incredible team effort that saw the Porcupines collect 10 hits and 10 RBIs at the plate, while the pitching staff recorded nine strikeouts after racking up 10 in the previous game. Both performances came in run-rule victories that lasted just 21 outs.

The win moves Pineville into the second spot in the division, sitting with a division record of 14-13 and an overall record of 16-14. Looking ahead, the Porcs will take on the Hendersonville Honeycrisps on Tuesday at 7:00 P.M. at Jack D. Hughes Memorial Stadium while looking for their fifth-straight division victory.

After that, the Porcupines will have three consecutive games at home, starting on Thursday, to finish out the 2026 regular season.