LUMBERTON — Two Lumberton teams posted run-rule wins at the Dixie Youth World Series Sunday, and will get to keep playing in their role as host as the tournament continues.

The first to post that result was the Lumberton AAA team, which earned a 15-0, four-inning victory over Arkansas.

“They had more confidence today than they did yesterday,” Lumberton AAA coach Shain Stueck said. “Yesterday they made an error or two and got down; after that they held their heads down and didn’t ever get their confidence back. Today they started off hitting the ball and they felt better, and kept their confidence up and scored runs and they won today.”

Lumberton had 11 hits while allowing Hope, Arkansas just one in the win. The biggest hit for the hosts was a two-run home run by Ben Locklear.

“It was good. … (I was) happy,” Locklear said. “I hit it as hard as I could.”

“It was good to see him, after he struck out a couple times yesterday, to get him a good hit today, and actually score,” Stueck said. “He was down yesterday, but today he came back and he made up for it, so I was proud of him today.”

Locklear scored three runs in the game, as did teammates Zylan Chavis and Easton Knecht, who each had two hits. Chavis also had three RBIs and Josiah Clark had four.

Deckland Stueck pitched three innings, allowing just one hit. Knecht and Locklear each pitched hitless stints in relief, with Knecht striking out the side.

Lumberton plays Virginia at 2 p.m. Monday in an elimination game. Arkansas with eliminated with Sunday’s loss.

Allen homer helps hosts blast past Alabama runner-up

In the final game to get underway Sunday evening, the Lumberton majors team showed it was a gracious host by ensuring fans could return to their homes or hotels a little early, earning a 14-3 four-inning win over the Alabama runner-up.

An eight-run third inning for Lumberton blew open the contest, giving them a 9-1 lead. That inning was propelled by a two-run homer by Gregory Allen.

“It was fun, because in the first half it was close, like 1-1, and then I got the first hit down the line, and I was excited about that,” Allen said. “We were up a lot, and I came up and cleared my head and tried to hit it as hard as I could, and I did it and hit a home run.”

“Once we got one hit, just one after another, we strung a lot of hits together,” Lumberton coach Jonathan Britt said. “We struck for one in the first, and that wasn’t enough, they tied us back up; once we got that one hit, hitting’s contagious, we got one after another and the floodgates opened.”

The game was tied 1-1 after the first inning and remained tied until the third; Lumberton scored five more runs in the fourth and the Alabama runner-up, from Dallas County, scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Caiden Hall scored three runs and also started on the mound for Lumberton. Allen, Landon Ransom and Jace Wilson also each scored twice. Allen had three RBIs and Josiah Britt had two. Allen, Hall and Wilson each had two hits.

Lumberton avoided elimination, sending the Alabama runner-up at home instead, and moves on to face West Robeson on Monday at 7 p.m. in an in-county matchup on the large World Series stage.

“I know a lot of the players on there, so I think it’s going to be fun to play against a lot of my friends,” Allen said. “And it’s going to be competitive, because they’re a really good team.”

“That’s going to be an elevated game,” Britt said. “I expect a big crowd … two locals against each other, and I think it’ll be a good one. They’re going to bring great pitching, we’re going to have some good pitching, and it’ll go down to the wire”

Lumberton “O”Zone team eliminated by Louisiana

While the other two Lumberton teams survived elimination games to ensure themselves Monday games, the “O”Zone hosts suffered an 11-0 loss in five innings against Louisiana, ending their tournament.

“We just couldn’t pull it together,” Lumberton coach Jorge Reyes said. “They started hitting the ball; we couldn’t make the defensive plays to get some outs. We had some balls drop where we should have caught them. It just didn’t go our way. … And they hit the ball well, take nothing away from them.”

Landon Simpson and Josiah Jones had Lumberton’s two hits.

Tyson Weed and Emilio Divera each had three hits and Kegan Permenter and Aiden Polk each had two. Divera scored three runs and Weed, Hagen Ashby and Polk each had two. Divera had three RBIs and Permenter and Polk each had two.

Louisiana faces Tennessee in an elimination game at 4:30 p.m. Monday.