Pitt County drops Wayne in first game

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on July 18, 2004 2:00 AM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- An impressive, sound beating.

That's the only way to describe Pitt County 39's 18-hit output that led to the 10-run mercy rule in eight innings against Wayne County Post 11 on Friday evening.

Eight of nine starters collected at least one hit apiece as Pitt County prevailed 12-2 on the Scarborough Field diamond. Post 39 dealt Post 11 its first home defeat of the season in 18 outings and took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three, Area I East South Division semifinal series.

It was just the fifth time since 1997 that Wayne County had been beaten by the 10-run rule.

"That's just a good, old-fashioned spanking just like your mama and daddy used to give you back in the old days," Post 11 coach Brad Reaves said. "They came ready to play and we didn't."

Wayne County (22-5) used three pitchers, but none could prevent Post 39's hitters from consistently reaching base. Pitt County (20-3) did the little things -- two-strike hits, two-out rallies and smart base running to keep the pressure on Post 11's defense the entire evening.

The visitors put the ball in play 29 of 40 official at-bats and benefited from either a hit, an error or a fielder's choice on several occasions. Four Post 11 defensive miscues led to four unearned runs.

"We served them up," Reaves said.

Tanner Jones emerged Post 39's offensive leader with four hits in five plate appearances. Brandon Scott contributed three hits. Brandon Manning, Ryan Graepel, Brian Ford, Mark Letchworth and Landis Wilson each chipped in two hits.

Letchworth finished with a team-high four RBI, including a two-run home run in the fifth.

"You've got to bang the ball around," Post 39 coach Mike Mullis said. "I think they had four errors and I wonder how many of those were forced by us putting the ball in play -- being aggressive the whole time."

Post 11 left-hander Adam Williams endured his first mound loss of the season. A rising senior at Charles B. Aycock, Williams (5-1) threw 76 pitches in a three-inning stint and yielded four earned runs.

Mike Oglesby and Brett Butts combined to give up eight runs (four earned) on 14 hits in five innings.

While Wayne County's pitching staff struggled, Post 39 needed just one hurler -- Aubrey Edens. The right-hander, eager to atone for a regular-season loss against Post 11, corrected his mistakes this time.

Edens had command of three pitches and consistently worked both sides of the plate. The D.H. Conley standout threw four perfect innings and retired 13 consecutive batters over four-plus innings after surrendering two runs in the third.

"I was trying to keep them off balance and throw my game," Edens said. "As long as I got ahead and they (the defense) kept it up behind me, I could do my job.

"I wanted to make them hit my pitch and not throw anything (good) with two strikes. I changed up the speeds to keep them off balance. My fastball looks so much faster when I throw my change-up."

Jesse Lancaster and Jes Snyder paced Wayne County with two hits each. Lancaster and Todd MacCoy each drove in a run. It was Post 11's lowest offensive output since a 3-2 loss at Garner on June 14.

2004 Area I East

South Division

Semifinals -- Best-of-3

(at Scarborough Field)

Game 1

Pitt Co. 022 023 04 -- 12 18 0

Wayne Co. 002 000 00 -- 2 7 4

Leading hitters -- Wayne County -- Jesse Lancaster 2-4, RBI; Jes Snyder 2-4; Todd MacCoy 1-3, RBI; Philip Pennington 1-3; Garrett Sutton 1-3. Pitt County -- Brandon Manning 2-5; Ryan Graepel 2-4; Brandon Scott 3-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Brian Ford 2-4, RBI; Mark Letchworth 2-5, HR, 4 RBI; Jason Cargile 1-4; Tanner Jones 4-5, RBI; Landis Wilson 2-5.

DP -- Pitt County 1. LOB -- Wayne County 4, Pitt County 10. SB -- Ford, Cargile, White, Wilson. CS -- Scott. SH -- Ford.

IP H R ER BB SO

Pitt County Post 39

Edens (W) 8 7 2 2 0 3

Wayne County Post 11

Williams (L, 5-1) 3 4 4 4 2 3

Oglesby 21Ú3 7 4 2 0 0

Butts 22Ú3 7 4 2 2 1

WP -- Butts 2. HBP -- Cargile (by Butts).