Junior Legion -- Aycock, Wayne Co. advance in tournament

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on July 11, 2004 2:00 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- Joseph Toler and Bradley Taylor each belted a home run as Aycock handed Snow Hill a 7-5 loss in an Area I East American Legion Junior tournament contest Saturday evening.

Aycock (15-4) travels to Wayne County tonight with the winner advancing to next round of playoffs against Area I West teams. Game time is 7 p.m. at Southern Wayne High School.

Meanwhile, Snow Hill faces Rocky Mount in an elimination-round game today. The winner meets the Aycock-Wayne County loser at 7 p.m. Monday and whoever wins that game also advances to the next round.

Toler slapped his solo home run in the second inning.

Aycock extended its lead to 4-2 in the fourth on Taylor's single, Aaron Kline's double and Jackson Massey's triple.

Richie Turner ripped a solo home run in the fifth as Snow Hill climbed within 4-3. However, the visitors would get no closer.

Turner walked Thomas Pilkington in the Aycock fifth and yielded a single to Bennett Jeffreys. Taylor cleared the bases with his home run -- his third hit in three plate appearances.

Snow Hill kept the game interesting by scoring twice in the seventh. Tyler Chase's single, a couple of walks and Turner's two-RBI triple closed the gap to 7-5.

Jeffreys and Massey complemented Taylor's performance with two hits apiece. Massey earned the save in relief of Brandon Price, who allowed three runs in a six-inning stint.

Turner batted 4-for-4 and drove in three runs for Snow Hill. He also suffered a complete-game loss on the mound. Hunter Chase and Tyler Chase each contributed two hits.

Barfield, McKinley spark Post 11

DUDLEY -- Garrett Barfield delivered the game-winning hit and Billy McKinley earned the save in relief as Wayne County Post 11 nipped Rocky Mount 8-7 in an opening-round Area I East American Junior Legion tournament game Saturday.

JoJo Davis got hit by a pitch to start the Post 11 fifth. Taylor Sutton walked and T.J. Hinson moved the runners into scoring position with a perfectly-executed sacrifice bunt.

Rocky Mount shortened its infield in anticipation of another bunt, but Barfield drilled a two-strike single up the middle. Davis and Sutton each scored on the play to give Wayne County an 8-5 advantage.

"We made some mistakes, but it was good to see us win a game where we had to overcome a lot of adversity," Wayne County coach Trae McKee said. "The boys showed a lot of character in coming back."

McKinley relieved starter Evan Cavanaugh and threw two innings of three-strikeout relief. Rocky Mount trimmed the deficit to one, but couldn't score the tying run.

Cavanaugh walked three, struck out three and surrendered five runs on six hits in five innings.

McKinley paced Post 11's offense with two hits and three RBI in three at-bats. Hinson contributed one hit, while Garrett Barfield batted 1-for-1 and stole a base.

Wayne County improved to 18-2 heading into today's home game against rival Aycock.