State-ranked C.B. Aycock drills four HRs

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on April 14, 2006 1:59 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Both with three non-conference games around spring break, Charles B. Aycock and Spring Creek have hopes of using these contests as a springboard into the second half of their league schedules.

The scoreboard may look like only one team took a positive step forward as the Golden Falcons cruised to a 16-1 win in five innings

Aycock, which improved to 17-1, pounded out 16 hits by nine different players, drilled four home runs, while Brandon Price and Jackson Massey combined on a three-hitter.

Bennett Jeffreys turned in a massive effort at the plate, slugging a two-run homer in the fourth and finishing with four hits and four RBIs. Bradley Taylor (2-2, 3 RBIs), Thomas Pilkington (1-4, 4 RBIs), and Massey (2-3, 3 RBIs) also went deep for the Falcons.

"This is not a hard park to hit the ball out of, but our hitters were very disciplined," Aycock coach Charles Davis said. "They didn't go up there trying to do too much. They hit the ball where it was pitched."

Despite the lopsided defeat, the young Gators (1-15) also showed signs of progress.

Spring Creek jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Josh Singleton scored Michael Russell from third with an infield single. A quartet of Gator pitchers walked just two with one hit batter and constantly challenged the potent Aycock lineup, while their defense made just one error behind them.

"Every day you get a chance to play, it means something," Spring Creek coach Roger May said. "We're capable of beating anybody in our league if we do the little things."

After Spring Creek scored in the top of the first, the Falcons quickly answered with four in the bottom of the inning against Timothy Rogers. Jeffreys' run-scoring double, and a three-run shot to left by Pilkington, his second of the season, keyed the outburst.

After a single by Will Spence, who went 2-2 and scored three times, Taylor slugged his fifth homer of the year in the second to make it 6-1. Spence's second hit in the third pushed the score to 10-1 and chased Rogers from the game.

Aycock posted two more in the third, before Massey and Jeffreys capped the scoring in the fourth with a pair of two-run blasts. The homer was Massey's third and Jeffreys' fourth of the season.

David Rose added two hits for the Falcons, while Evan Medford and Daniel Stancil had one hit each off the bench.

"I've always believed that you get better by playing better competition," May said. "We teach the same things that Charles (Davis) does, but right now we aren't applying it. But we're young."

Price tossed the first three innings for the Falcons, yielding one run on three hits with no walks and two strikeouts. The junior right-hander, who has appeared in three of Aycock's last four outings, improved to 5-1 on the season.

Massey, a senior lefty, struck out six of the seven batters he faced in the final two innings. His only blemish during his relief stint was a four-pitch walk to Russell with two outs in the fifth, but he bounced back to record the final out of the game with a strikeout on five pitches.

"Brandon wasn't as sharp as he has been, but he battled and gave us everything he's got," Davis said. "Jackson's thrown the ball well for us all year."

Paul Hayes, Kevin Prunest and Ray Grady all saw action on the mound for the Gators, while Rogers and Anthony Brogden contributed one hit each.

Aycock travels to West Craven on April 20, then goes to Wilson Fike on April 21. Both games are slated for 7 p.m. starts. The Gators return to action on April 20 when they face Rosewood in a non-conference game at 4 p.m. at the two-day Deacon Jones Invitational at Princeton.

Spring Creek 100 00 -- 1 3 1

C.B. Aycock 426 4x -- 16 16 1

Leading hitters -- Spring Creek -- Josh Singleton 1-2, RBI; Timothy Rogers 1-2; Anthony Brogden 1-2. C.B. Aycock -- Bennett Jeffreys 4-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Bradley Taylor 2-2, HR, 3 RBI; Thomas Pilkington 1-4, HR, 4 RBI; Jackson Massey 2-3, HR, 3 RBI; David Rose 2-3; Will Spence 2-3, RBI.

IP H R ER BB SO

Spring Creek

T. Rogers (L) 21/3 10 11 11 1 1

P. Hayes 1/3 2 1 1 1 0

K. Prunest 1 4 4 4 0 0

R. Grady 1/3 0 0 0 0 0

C.B. Aycock

B. Price (W) 3 3 1 1 0 2

J. Massey 2 0 0 0 1 6