Backed by 17 hits, Pinecrest's Andrew MacDonald pitched his second five-inning no-hitter of the season in Thursday's 15-1 victory at Chapel Hill.

The senior lefthander improved to 6-0 on the season, and helped his cause by going 3-for-5 at the plate. Taylor MacDonald and Patrick Moore both homered in a seven-run fourth inning that turned the game into a rout.

The Patriots improved to 13-3 after the non-conference win while the Tigers fell to 7-4.

Pinecrest had lost two of its previous three games, including an 11-0 loss to Eastern Wayne on Monday at the Hot Stove Classic in Greenville. They recorded only one base hit in that thrashing.

"This has been a pins and needles day for me," Pinecrest coach Jeff Hewitt said afterward. "I didn't really know how we were going to play coming off the Eastern Wayne game."

During a batting practice earlier in the day, the Patriot batters worked on getting on top of the ball. Chapel Hill committed six of its seven errors on ground balls. There were no pop ups and the Pats hit plenty of line drives.

The first four Patriot batters in the game reached base and scored. Andrew McDonald led off by beating out a bunt to the left of the pitcher. Dillon Maples also reached when the throw to first on his sacrifice bunt down the third base line was high.

Taylor MacDonald followed with a double that brought home the first run, nearly missing a homer. Two batters later, James Baldwin fouled off three straight pitches before plating two more with a two-bagger to deep left-center. Jacob Gibson squeezed home another run, making it 4-0.

"I got real comfortable after we put up the four-spot," Andrew MacDonald said.

The hardest struck ball of the night may have been Maples' second inning double that hit the fence just to the right of the 375-foot sign in centerfield. In the bottom half, a walk, a stolen base, a passed ball and a wild pitch led to an unearned run for the Tigers.

The Patriots got that one back in their next at bat on a single by Trent Fredericks, a double by Joey Grady and a single by Gibson. Then they really went to town in the seven-run top of the fourth.

The visitors whacked out six hits and took advantage of four infield bobbles by the Tigers. The big blows were the home runs by Taylor MacDonald to right center and one by Patrick Moore the opposite way, making it 12-1.

The hit parade continued in the fifth with Fredericks, Joe Herbert and Gibson hitting safely as the Pats scored their final three tallies.

Fredericks went 2-for-3 as the team's designated hitter. The Patriot catcher was making his first plate appearances since suffering a laceration on his glove hand during a play at the plate against Lumberton, five games ago. Hewitt says that it's a different team with him in the lineup.

In his first at bat, Fredericks swung and missed twice before drawing a walk.

"Those were my first swings in about two weeks and you could tell I was a little over-excited to be back in action again." he said. "Sitting and watching isn't my thing, and it kind of takes its toll and makes you miss the game a lot. We've got two big conference games next week so it's good to see the team hitting again."

Gibson finished the night with three hits and three RBIs. The two-hit club also included Taylor MacDonald, Baldwin and Moore. The home runs were the third of the season for MacDonald and the second for Moore.

Andrew MacDonald struck out five and walked three. The five-inning no-hitter was the team's fourth of the season.

"Andrew did an excellent job again and the team played good defense behind him." Hewitt said. "The outfielders were running all over the place for him. These kids showed their true character tonight. When they play loose like this, I think we can play with anybody."

Pinecrest returns to Mid-Southeastern Conference play on Tuesday against Scotland County in Laurinburg. The Patriots (6-2), Hoke County (6-2) and the Scots (5-2) are tied at the top with two losses each. Next are Richmond Senior (5-3), Jack Britt (4-4), Douglas Byrd (3-5), Westover (1-6) and Seventy-First (1-7).

R H E

Pinecrest 4 0 1 7 3 15 17 1

Chapel Hill 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 7

A. MacDonald and Rush; Gillam, Dawson (5) and Elfonte. WP- A. MacDonald (6-0) LP- Gillam (2-2). Leading hitters Gibson 3-3, 3 RBI, A. MacDonald 3-5, RBI, T. MacDonald 2-4, DB, HR, 2 RBI, Fredericks 2-3, Baldwin 2-3, DB, 3 RBI, Moore 2-3, HR, 2 RBI