WEDDINGTON Ardrey Kell scored seven runs in the final two innings to come back and beat Weddington 10-4 in high school baseball Monday.

The win against the defending 3A state champions is the first for Ardrey Kell after losing the season opener against Marvin Ridge.

“I think we played real well against a quality club,” said Ardrey Kell coach Hal Bagwell. “It was nip and tuck there for a while. We answered when we had to and had a real good hitting performance.”

The Knights got at least one hit in every inning and finished with 15, all singles or doubles.

Senior Thomas Nantz led Ardrey Kell, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Junior Doug Norman was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and junior Zach Featherstone was 2-for-5 with three RBIs.

“The whole idea going in was just to make good quality contact,” said Bagwell. “We just wanted to hit it hard somewhere.”

Featherstone also started on the mound for Ardrey Kell, giving up two runs on three hits with three strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.

Ardrey Kell scored first in the second on an RBI double by junior Logan Beehler that plated senior Brandon Donahue.

Weddington senior Jeremy Schellhorn answered in the bottom half of the inning with a homer on the first pitch.

The Knights (1-1) added two more runs in the top of the third on RBIs by Norman and Donahue held a 3-1 lead after three innings.

Weddington (1-1) cut into the lead in the fourth with an RBI single by Schellhorn.

The Warriors then loaded the bases in the fifth, tied the score on an RBI single by senior Alex Bostic and took a 4-3 lead when junior Sean Collins earned a bases-loaded walk.

The lead was short-lived.

Ardrey Kell scored three runs in the top of the sixth on RBI singles by Featherstone and Norman and a bases-loaded walk. The Knights led 6-4 going into the final inning.

“We were able to answer because we didn’t panic,” Bagwell said.

The Knights added four more runs in the top of the seventh on a two-RBI single by Featherstone and RBIs from Norman and junior Max Garner.

Junior Landon Kay started on the mound for Weddington, giving up seven hits and three runs in 3 2/3 innings. He also had three strikeouts.

Three relievers – Josh Islam, Paul Brocklebank and Cameron Smetack – finished the game, giving up a combined eight hits and seven runs.

Donahue replaced Featherstone on the mound. He gave up three hits and two runs in 2 2/3 innings, striking out one and walking three.

Norman pitched the seventh for the Knights, retiring the Weddington batters in order.