Snow Hill struggle with Pitt County 160 in afternoon heat

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on July 4, 2004 2:00 AM

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SNOW HILL -- With scorching Saturday afternoon temperatures and humidity to go with the unusual 1 p.m. start time, Snow Hill Senior American Legion coach James "Rabbit" Fulghum offered no excuses after his team's disappointing 2-0 loss at home to Pitt County Post 160.

Post 94 stranded 12 base runners, several times in the middle of the order, as Pitt County starter Richard Barnhill turned in a complete game, five-hit, shutout effort.

The win marked Post 160's first ever Area One East South Division win in the young history of the first-year post as it improved to 5-14 overall and 1-7 in division play.

Snow Hill (6-9), fell to 3-5 in the division heading into today's key tilt at Grainger Stadium against Kinston.

"We don't have any excuses, they just outplayed us," Post 94 coach James Fulghum said.

Barnhill mixed in his off-speed pitches well, keeping Post 94 off-balance for a majority of the game. Barnhill, who had eight strikeouts against three walks, seemed to thrive in tough situations. In the top of the third, Snow Hill loaded the bases after back-to-back singles by Blake Taylor and John Conway.

Clean-up hitter and catcher Joe Wade followed with a sharp line-drive out to the shortstop before Barnhill got designated hitter Matthew Tyndall to fly to center to squash the early rally.

Snow Hill had first-and-second situations with one out in the fifth, eighth and ninth innings, but never managed to scratch against the deliberate right-hander.

"He (Barnhill) kept the ball around the plate," Fulghum said. "He located his fastball and slider and kept us off-balance all day. That really hurt us when we had the bases loaded and one out and didn't scratch."

Snow Hill starter Jordy Davis proved just as impressive at pitching out of jams. The righty, who struck out the side in the third, got consecutive strikeouts with runners on second and third. Post 160 stranded nine runners against Davis, who yielded two runs on nine hits.

Pitt County generated one run each in the second and fifth innings.

With the bases loaded in the second, Brandon Hassell scored Bryant Cooke, who had two hits, with a ground out to shortstop before Davis escaped the inning with no further damage. After doubling to lead off the fifth, Josh Wilson raced home on a shallow single to right by Cooke to tally the game's final run.

Davis gave up just two hits in innings six through nine.

"Our guy pitched great too," Fulghum said. "It was a well-pitched game, especially in the conditions we had to play in."

Barnhill proved especially controlled in innings four through seven as he faced no three-ball counts during the four-inning stretch. He threw just 58 pitches in the first six innings.

"He (Barnhill) did a heck of a job," Post 160 coach Paul Hill said. "He got behind a little early, then he settled down and hit his spots to keep them off of stride. For a kid who only threw four innings in high school at D.H. Conley to come out and do what he did under those conditions against a good ball team, it certainly says a lot."

Post 160 makes the short trip to Pitt Community College to face Pitt County Post 39 today.

Pitt Co. Post 160 010 010 000 -- 2 9 2

Snow Hill 000 000 000 -- 0 5 1

Leading hitters -- Pitt Co. Post 160 -- Bryant Cooke 2-5, RBI; Jason Wood 2-4; Brandon Hassell 1-4, RBI. Snow Hill -- Blake Taylor 2-5.

IP H R ER BB SO

Pitt Co. Post 160

Barnhill (W) 9 5 0 0 3 8

Snow Hill

Davis (L) 9 9 2 2 2 4

HBP -- Taylor, Rouse (by Barnhill); Scoggin (by Davis).

Wayne County-Snow Hill game rained out: rescheduled for Monday

The American Legion game between Wayne County andSnow Hill was rained out Friday when thunderstorms soaked the Snow Hill area.

The game is scheduled to be played on Monday. Snbow Hill coach James "Rabbit" Fulghum said the game could be played in the early afternoon, but that is not official.