North Duplin ends long drought in Carolina 1-A play

Published in Sports on April 10, 2005 2:06 AM

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CALYPSO -- North Duplin picked up its first Class 1-A Carolina Conference win in more than a year, beating Farmville Central 6-5 in eight innings behind eight strong innings from senior starting pitcher Brad Lloyd.

Lloyd went eight innings to get the win, throwing 125 pitches, giving up three earned runs, eight hits, six walks and striking out seven. In the first two innings, Farmville racked out six hits and received two walks. In the subsequent six innings, they managed only two hits and worked only four walks.

North Duplin (4-6, 1-4 CC) trailed 4-0 after the top of the first, but battled back to take a 5-4 lead in the fifth.

North Duplin's Wade Sasser finished 2-4 with three runs and the game-winning RBI in the eighth. Sasser smacked a 3-2 offering off of the fence in right, scoring Lloyd and securing the win. Matt Braswell continued a seven-game hitting streak with a 3-3 performance, scoring once and driving in one.

Farmville dropped to 9-6 overall and 3-1 in Carolina play. The Rebels host Rosewood on Tuesday

SW stops Cougars

DUDLEY -- Southern Wayne's Brady Wiggins had two hits in three plate appearances -- including his first home run of the season as the Saints defeated Goldsboro 11-1 in five-inning, Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference game Friday.

Chris Carr provided two hits, an RBI and scored twice for Southern Wayne, while Matthew Holloman drove in two runs and contributed a double. The Saints' Joseph Davis scored twice and also drove in one.

T.J. Hinson went the first three innings, striking out four against the minimum, 15 batters. Davis and Holloman pitched one inning of relief work each, combining for five strikeouts.

Eugene Norman managed the only hit for Goldsboro, a single in the fourth against Davis. Monty Walls scored the Cougars' lone run.

Southern Wayne (6-5, 4-3 ECC) travels to West Craven on Tuesday.

Goldsboro (0-11, 0-8) returns to action next Friday at home against Charles B. Aycock.

Eagles triumph

Wayne Christian's Tyler Thomas yielded just two hits in six innings of work and gave up only one unearned run to help lead the Eagles to an 8-1, Carolina Christian 1-A Conference win at home over Village Christian of Fayetteville on Friday.

The Eagles remained unbeaten at 5-0 on the season heading into Tuesday's home game with Cape Fear Christian.

Wayne Christian's Billy Smith provided two hits and two RBI, while teammate Andrew Bass added two hits, including a double. Tyler Brannan and Jeffrey Barfield knocked in two runs each.

Thomas and Adam Brannan, who pitched a perfect seventh inning, saw the defense commit just one error behind them.

Gators lose lead

SEVEN SPRINGS -- Ayden-Grifton struck for five runs in the top of the fifth to erase a 3-2 deficit on their way to a 7-3, Carolina 1-A Conference win over Spring Creek on Friday.

Devin Graves drove in one run and emerged the only multiple-hit batter for Spring Creek (3-10, 1-4 CC), while Kevin Prunest notched an RBI.

Hunter Carnes had three hits and three RBI for the Chargers. Richie Turner and Tyler Dunn added two hits each for Ayden-Grifton.

Derek Kirby picked up the loss on the mound for Spring Creek, yielding seven runs (five earned) on nine hits with six strikeouts. Anthony Brogden came on to toss 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief for the Gators.

Turner went the distance for Ayden-Grifton (10-3, 3-1) -- striking out six against one walk, yielding five hits and three earned runs.

Spring Creek returns to action Monday at home against Midway in a non-confernece contest.

GC pounds N. Pitt

BETHEL -- Greene Central's Blake Taylor struck out nine against no walks and gave up only three hits in the Rams' 12-0 win at North Pitt on Friday.

The game was the Eastern Plains 2-A Conference opener for both teams.

Taylor helped his cause with two hits and an RBI, while teammate Lance Murray provided a huge, 3-for-5 performance with four RBI and two doubles. Travis Rouse also had three hits and drove in three. Hunter Chase added two hits for the Rams, who improved to 6-4 overall heading into Tuesday's home game with North Lenoir.

Chip Wall endured the loss for North Pitt.

NL falls to rival

LAGRANGE -- South Lenoir freshman Grant Williams slugged what would be the game-winning home run in the third inning as the Blue Devils defeated North Lenoir 4-2 in Wheat Swamp.

North Lenoir senior Josh Williams delivered his team's only runs with a two-run double in the fifth inning.

In the Eastern Plains 2-A opener for both teams, the Blue Devils (6-7) jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings, thanks to Williams' two-run shot that scored himself and David Currington, who had reached base on a walk. Williams' homer followed a solo shot by Brandon Rouse that opened the frame.

The homer was the first in Williams' varsity career.

After Williams' home run, North Lenoir's pitchers -- senior starter Marvin Buck and sophomore reliever Sthil Sowers -- held the Blue Devils to one hit over the remaining 4 1/3 innings.

Josh Williams' two-run double -- that scored Jacob Alphin and Doug Beal -- cut the SL lead in half at 4-2 with one out in the fifth. But South Lenoir senior starting pitcher Paul Novicki went the distance for the Blue Devils and kept the North Lenoir offense at bay.

Novicki struck out six, walked four and only gave up four hits to the Hawks. Both runs against the SL southpaw were earned.

The Hawks (9-2, 0-1 Class 2-A Eastern Plains Conference) travel to Wilson Beddingfield on Monday.

-- Kinston Free Press