The Sandhills Post 72 Diamond overcame an epidemic of infield miscues and a 7-3 fifth-inning deficit to turn back Chatham County Post 93 11-8 in Siler City Wednesday evening.

The Diamond used a six-run explosion in the sixth inning to help put its American Legion season opener in the win column.

Left-hander Robert Carpenter, a Pinecrest junior, struck out 16, walked two and gave up 11 hits in going the distance. He also collected three of the Diamond’s 14 hits and scored two runs.

Diamond coach Jeff Hewitt was pleased with the hitting and pitching and confident in his infielders despite the team’s eight errors.

“I don’t know what happened tonight,” Hewitt said. “We have too many athletes in the infield not to play good defense.”

The Diamond pecked away at Siler City High School sophomore right-hander David Sheaffer for single runs in each of the first three innings.

Matt Criscoe doubled to left center and scored on a Clay Irwin foul ball sacrifice fly in the first. Singles by Leon Lyons, Carpenter and Mike Klingenschmidt built a run in the second. And an Irwin opposite field home run produced a run in the third.

“Irwin is seeing the ball very well right now,” Hewitt said of the team’s only high school senior and main power source.

Only three of the runs were earned as Chatham County put up two runs in the first, third and fifth innings in building the 7-3 lead. Two RBI hits by catcher Brad Oakley and a home run to left by third baseman Wes Cain were the most damaging blows. An outstanding double play started by shortstop Brian Grimsley on a ball hit up the middle limited the damage in the third.

But the inning that might have undone a less determined pitcher than Carpenter was the fifth. The Diamond committed four errors, three on one play, as Chatham County scored twice without the benefit of hitting a ball out of the infield. And Carpenter struck out the side.

Carpenter said he used his experiences during the high school season to work through the difficulty.

“I’ve pitched through a lot of jams like that all year, getting stronger as the game goes on,” he said.

Hewitt and Carpenter noted the tendency of the Chatham hitters to swing at the first pitch and adjusted by throwing first pitch curve balls to almost every batter over the last four innings.

“They couldn’t touch his curve ball,” Hewitt said.

The strategy was helped by Carpenter’s excellent control. Out of the 135 pitches he threw for the night, 100 were for strikes.

Most of the damage in the decisive sixth inning was at the expense of Chatham reliever Michael Frazier. Four hits, a walk and three errors produced six runs.

Center fielder Klingenschmidt, who was two for three with two RBI, drove in one, shortstop Tyler Wolfe drove in two with a triple to right center and Irwin picked up his third RBI with another sacrifice fly.

With Carpenter in command, notching four strikeouts in pitching a scoreless eighth and ninth, the Diamond added an insurance run in each inning.

A T. J. Hawthorne walk and stolen base and a Wolfe single coupled with two errors produced one run in the eighth. Singles by Carpenter, Ben Richardson and Nathan Ernst completed the scoring in the top of the ninth.

“I challenged them in the fifth, saying that we still have half the ball game to play,” Hewitt said. “If we pitch and play defense we will be tough.”