Richmond, Fuauqy-Varina leave with victories

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on June 14, 2004 1:55 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Winless in its previous two outings, Richmond (Va.) Post 125 broke out of its shell offensively and defensively Sunday afternoon against Duplin County Post 127.

Mike Seay provided three hits and drove in four runs as Richmond hammered Duplin County 16-5 in the seventh-place game of the inaugural Wayne County Post 11 American Legion Baseball Invitational. Officials halted the contest after six innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

Six Post 125 starters recorded at least one hit and one RBI apiece on the Scarborough Field diamond. Lead-off hitter Joe White collected three hits, including a double, in five plate appearances. Designated hitter Evan Ocheltree contributed two hits in four at-bats.

Richmond sent 18 batters to the plate in the second and third innings combined. Post 125 built a commanding 12-2 advantage after 21Ú2 innings of play.

Sam Wilhelm-Ross earned his first pitching win of the season. He surrendered five runs (three earned) on 11 hits in a five-inning stint to go along with three walks and one strikeout.

Spring Creek standout Randy Amos led Duplin County (2-6) with a 3-for-3 performance. Teammate Jed Potter, also from Spring Creek, and lead-off batter Steven Skinner each contributed two hits.

Amos started on the mound but left after the first inning and took the loss.

In the third-place game, Fuquay-Varina Post 116 rallied for a 6-2 victory against Jacksonville Post 265. Jay Honeycutt delivered the game-winning hit in the sixth inning and Wesley Snell added an insurance RBI single in the same inning. Post 116 added two runs in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk and a bases-loaded hit batsman.

Seven Fuquay-Varina batters each had one hit in the game. T.L. Bradley's two-RBI single in the second gave Post 116 a 2-1 lead before Jacksonville tied it at 2-2 in its half of the second inning.

Jacksonville (2-4) left 10 runners and batted 2-for-13 with those players in scoring position. Anthony Hernandez and John Anderson paced Post 265's offense with two hits each. Hernandez and Justin Jones each drove in a run.

Post 116's Trevor Smith grabbed the pitching win in relief of left-handed starter John Cratch. Smith yielded two hits in a three-inning effort and retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced. He threw a perfect seventh.

Fuquay-Varina exited 8-3 overall.

2004 Wayne County Post 11

American Legion

Baseball Invitational

(at Mount Olive College)

Seventh-place game

Richmond (Va.) 354 022 -- 16 10 2

Duplin County 021 200 -- 5 11 6

Leading hitters -- Richmond (Va.) -- Joe White 3-5, 2B, RBI; Dillon Hode 1-1; Hank Coogan 1-2, RBI; Evan Ocheltree 2-4; Charlie Hartt 1-2, RBI; Matt Seay 3-5, 4 RBI; Mason Fox 1-3. Duplin County -- Randy Amos 3-3; Jed Potter 2-2; Steven Skinner 2-4, RBI.

IP H R ER BB SO

Richmond (Va.) Post 125

Wilhelm-Ross (W, 1-0) 5 11 5 3 3 1

Conway 1 0 0 0 0 1

Duplin County Post 127

Amos (L) 1 2 3 0 1 0

Warren 1 4 5 5 2 0

Bullard 1 2 4 0 2 1

Parker 2 2 2 1 2 3

Dixon 1 2 2 2 1 1

Third-place game

Fuquay-Varina 020 002 2 -- 6 7 2

Jacksonville 110 000 0 -- 2 8 3

Leading hitters -- Fuquay-Varina -- Wesley Snell 1-5, RBI; Frankie Lewis 1-2; Joe McIntyre 1-3; Jay Honeycutt 1-3, RBI; Chris Mullins 1-1; T.L. Bradley 1-2, 2 RBI. Jacksonville -- Woody Wilson 1-4; Anthony Hernandez 2-4, RBI; John Anderson 2-4, 2B; Zach Smith 1-3; Justin Jones 1-3, RBI.

IP H R ER BB SO

Fuquay-Varina Post 116

Cratch 4 6 2 1 2 3

Smith (W) 3 2 0 0 0 4

Jacksonville Post 265

Bialecki (L) 52Ú3 5 4 3 2 1

Jordan 1 2 2 2 1 0

Huff 0 0 0 0 1 0

Hall 1Ú3 0 0 0 0 1