CLAYTON — If ever a perfect case could be made for how competitive the Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference baseball race should be this season, gander at Holly Springs’ opening two games in league play.

The Golden Hawks won their league opener on a walk-off hit by Joey Roach Thursday night, then lost the next on a walk off single by Clayton’s Alex Hadding Saturday afternoon.

The setback at Clayton was Holly Springs’ first in six outings.

“Anytime you play conference games, they’re going to be close for the most part,” said Holly Springs coach Rod Whitesell. “[Clayton] made the plays and they’re pitchers kept us off balance.”

The Hawks went up 2-0 in the opening inning, then pushed it to 3-1 on a Jesse Sykes single in the third. Ethan Nunn, after walking and stealing second base in the sixth, tried to put a fourth run on the board (for a 4-1 lead), breaking for home on Chris Tomlinson’s single to right.

But Clayton right fielder Bryan Forbes’ throw just beat Nunn home for the third out of the inning.

“The thing you go back to in this game is their right fielder made a great play,” Whitesell said. “We got thrown out at the plate two times today and in a close game, that’s going to certainly make a difference.”

After struggling at the plate for six innings against Nunn and Justin Manning, Clayton (3-3 overall, 1-1 conference) strung together hits in the bottom of the seventh.

Josh Catalano singled to start things, then moved to second when the Hawks couldn’t handle a Joseph Pridmore book. Jeffrey Joyner followed with the game-tying single, scoring Catalano. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, setting up force plays with no outs, Hadding looped a single into short right field for the 4-3 Clayton victory.

“Holly Springs is a good, young baseball team,” said Clayton coach Stacey Houser. “They’re starting five sophomores. They’re good now and they’re going to continue to be a good team.”

Roach’s single over second base capped the Golden Hawks’ comeback from a 7-5 seventh inning deficit Thursday night against Holly Springs. West Johnston led 6-5 entering the final two innings, which were played in a steady rain and heavy winds.

The Wildcats lost two balls in the rain-filled night sky in the bottom of the seventh, helping keep the frame alive for Roach.

“That was one of the situations in baseball you can’t expect to happen,” Whitesell said. “The weather, the wind in the last two innings was tough on both teams. We caught some breaks and then got a big hit at the right time.”