Baseball - Wayne Christian blasts Community Christian

By David Williams
Published in Sports on April 30, 2004 1:59 PM

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Jordan Yelverton doubled and slapped a home run as Wayne Christian battled from behind to beat Community Christian of Wilson 9-6 in an opening-round Class 1-A Carolina Christian Conference tournament game Thursday afternoon.

The Eagles, the No. 1 seed, oppose Norlina Christian for the title this afternoon at 4 o'clock. The winner earns the league's automatic berth for the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association playoffs, which begin either next Friday or Saturday.

Yelverton finished the day 3-for-4 for Wayne Christian, which climbed to 11-3 overall. J.D. Hightower doubled and tripled in a 3-for-4 showing. Tyler Thomas and Doug Johnson each batted 2-for-3.

Community Christian, the No. 4 seed, claimed a 4-0 lead after one-half inning of play. The Eagles chipped away the deficit and finally took control by scoring six runs in the fourth and fifth innings combined.

Josh Brannan emerged the winning pitcher, striking out seven and allowing six runs (four earned) on seven hits in a five-inning stint. Thomas provided two innings of three-strikeout relief en route to the save.

Comm. Christian 401 100 0 -- 6 7 2

Wayne Christian 101 331 0 -- 9 12 0

Leading hitters -- Wayne Christian -- Jordan Yelverton 3-4, 2B, HR; J.D. Hightower 3-4, 2B, 3B; Tyler Thomas 2-3; Doug Johnson 2-3. Community Christian -- Daniel Vester 2-4, 2B; Zake Brake 2-4; Tim Brake 2-3, 2B.

IP H R ER BB SO

Community Christian

Pipkin (L) 6 12 9 7 5 3

Wayne Christian

J. Brannan (W) 5 7 6 4 2 7

Thomas (S) 2 0 0 0 2 3