Jeff Linville/The News

North Surry’s Alex Ratcliff, seen in this file photo, hit the game-winning single against West Stokes Monday.

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North Surry handed West Stokes its first conference baseball loss on Monday, finishing off a game that began last week.

The two teams battled to an 8-all tie with skies threatening last Tuesday. North pitcher Caleb Whitaker had gotten the first two outs in the top of the ninth when the game was stopped.

On Monday, the game resumed at North Surry. Whitaker faced one batter and got the out.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Greyhounds threatened.

With one out, Austin Chandler hit a deep fly ball to right that fell in. However, the fielder made a good play to hold Chandler to a single.

After Ryan Stone made an out, Chase Gough was hit by a pitch to put Chandler in scoring position for Dustin Johnson.

Johnson worked a walk to load the bases for leadoff man Alex Ratcliff.

West Stokes got two strikes on Ratcliff, but then the senior hit a ball up the middle to score the winning run.

West Stokes came into the game fresh off a 17-2 beating of North Stokes in five innings. The Wildcats were 16-1 and 12-0 in the Northwest.

The first time they played March 16, the Hounds lost 5-1. The four-run margin was the second-closest game of the conference season for the Cats, with a 5-2 win over South Stokes being the closest.

The Hounds travel to Winston-Salem tomorrow to face Reagan.