WILSON – Wayne Country Day School built a 4-1 lead and held off Lawrence Academy 5-4 here Saturday.

The Chargers claimed the first game of the North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association state championship series thanks to the win.

The Warriors got started early, scoring one run in the bottom of the first frame.

Judd Whitehead singled to center and scored on a Chad Whitehead RBI-double down the right field line, giving the Warriors a 1-0 edge.

Wayne bounced back with two runs in the top of the second stanza. Bases loaded walks to Jack Scott and Kyle Pender gave the Chargers a 2-1 lead.

They extended the advantage to 4-1 when they plated two more in the top of the third.

Those runs came via a Travis Davis RBI-triple and a Trent Langston RBI-groundout.

Lawrence answered with a run in the bottom of the same inning.

Evan Holton was hit by a pitch. When T.J. Johnston grounded out, Holton scored on a wild throw by third base, trimming the deficit to 4-2.

The Warriors scored again in the bottom of the sixth. Jake Mitchell tripled to right-center and scored on a Gray Harrell sacrifice fly to make it 4-3.

The Chargers added an insurance run that would prove to be critical in the top of the seventh when Davis had an RBI-double to make it 5-3.

In the bottom of the seventh, Holton singled to right and stole second. He came around to score on a Chad Whitehead RBI-double to right to cut the lead to 5-4, but a strikeout ended the game.

Daniel Oliver pitched six innings for the Warriors while Dylan Ralph tossed the final frame.

Lawrence had 11 hits. Holton, Chad Whitehead and Oliver had two hits each. Judd Whitehead, J.T. Lilley, Mitchell, Gray Harrell and Joe Harrell had one hit each.