Thayer Thomas’ two triples takes Heritage baseball by Wake Forest

Thayer Thomas proved to be a very tough out on a sunny Tuesday afternoon.

Heritage’s senior third baseman went 3-for-3 with two triples, three RBI and a walk, leading the Huskies to a 9-4 win over visiting Wake Forest in a battle for first place in Cap-8 Conference baseball.

The Huskies (7-1, 4-0) won their fourth straight game, with the nine runs being the fewest they have scored over the span. Wake Forest (7-2, 2-2) lost its second straight contest.

Sophomore outfielder Christian Staresina went 2-for-4 including a double and a stolen base in the leadoff spot for the Huskies. Hunter Dickerson was the winning pitcher in relief, while Branden Kunz – who is set to pitch at Charlotte next season – picked up the save.

Davis Powell, who finished the game on the mound for the Cougars, had a three-run single while teammate Jeff Leary added a triple.

Heritage jumped to a 5-0 lead after three innings before the Cougars began to chip away.

The Huskies’ Thayer Thomas had a two-run single in the first, and Staresina scored on a balk in the second. Drake Thomas had an RBI single and later scored in the third.

But Powell’s two-out, three-run double in the fourth made it 5-3 and then Leary tripled and scored in the fifth to make it 5-4.

Heritage added three runs in the sixth to seal it, key hits were Staresina’s double and Thayer Thomas’ RBI triple before Vito Patierno’s RBI rocket up the middle that hit pitcher Aidan Brown and caused Brown to be removed from the game.

Heritage has won four straight over the Cougars, and leads the all-time series 7-5.

Wake Forest visits Cary on Wednesday. Heritage’s next game is at Millbrook on Friday night.

The rematch is on April 25 at Wake Forest.

This story was originally published March 22, 2017 at 3:23 AM with the headline "Thayer Thomas’ two triples takes Heritage baseball by Wake Forest."