Gators lack bite against Farmville Central

Published in Sports on April 6, 2005 1:53 PM

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Unraveling the riddle of Spring Creek baseball fortunes remains a mystery to head coach Roger May.

"I don't know," he said, after Farmville Central shut out his Gators, 11-0, in a five-inning Class 1-A Carolina Conference contest. "I wish I could pinpoint it. If you don't swing the bat, you're not going to score runs.We must improve our mental approach to the game."

Meanwhile, the visiting Jaguars were well focused and in sync. "Our pitching was superb, and we played errorless ball again," said Farmville coach John Galeazzi. "Offensively, we're not hitting the way we should be, but we continue to improve."

The only way for starter Brad Bagley to improve would be to pitch a perfect game. It only took 57 pitches for the senior hurler to notch his fourth win in five starts. Derek Kirby's single to right in the first inning was the only hit allowed.

Catcher Jed Potter was the only other Gator to reach base. After he walked with two out in the third, he was gunned down by Spencer Albritton attempting to steal. Prior to that, he had retired seven in a row.

Farmville wasted no time unleashing their offensive arsenal. They scored four runs on four singles in the top half of the first. Seven players went to the plate.

After being held in check for the next three innings by Gator starter Devin Graves, they cranked up the heavy artillery again in the fifth. Twelve batters went to the plate. May was forced to employ the services of three relievers, Anthony Brogden, John Kelly, and Blake Thompson to put out the fire.

Farmville scored seven times. Although they recorded three of their ten hits in the inning, equal contributors to the runs were three walks and a hit batsman by Gator pitchers.

Spring Creek's record falls to 3-8 overall and 1-3 in Carolina 1-A Conference play. Farmville, at 3-0, sits in first place in conference action. The Jaguars are 8-4 overall.

"It's real early in the season," said Galeazzi about conference play. "We've got both Ayden-Grifton and Princeton scheduled next week. If we're 6-0, we might have something to talk about."

Farmville will travel to Calypso Friday to take on North Duplin. Spring Creek will have its hands full again today as it entertains state-ranked North Lenoir.

Game time is 4 p.m.