WB at EW

By Rob Craig
Published in Sports on April 22, 2007 2:02 AM

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Timely hits and clutch pitching equaled a big Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference victory for Eastern Wayne.

Anthony Otellio gave the Warriors a solid start, John Wooten provided a key two-run double and some clutch pitching by Corey Harr closed the Warriors' 5-2 win over Wilson Beddingfield on Friday night.

A big reason for the victory was the pitching of Otellio.

Otellio (1-0) picked up his first victory of the season by allowing one earned run on four hits, walked five, but struck out nine in his 51/3 innings.

"Anthony hit his spots tonight," said Eastern Wayne coach Jabo Fulghum. "He worked ahead for the most part and kept the ball down in the strike zone. He really did a great job."

Beddingfield starter Chris Jones pitched well too, but the Warriors were able to make him pay for what few mistakes he made.

The Warriors were able to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a hit that never left the infield.

With two out in the inning, it looked as if Chad Gurley's lead-off double would be wasted when Taylor Sutton skied a pop-up to first baseman Marqui Ransome. As Sutton raced toward first base he collided with Ransome -- who was standing in the base path -- enabling the ball to fall for a hit to score Gurley.

Eastern Wayne would see its lead balloon in the bottom of the third.

A hit by Jose Ponce and Walker Gourley brought Wooten to the plate with one out. Wooten then hammered Jones' fastball for a double to drive in Ponce and Gourley to give the Warriors a 3-0 lead.

"That was big," said Fulghum. "John got a good fast ball and drove it. John's been hitting it well for us lately."

Despite having just six hits, the Warriors were able to make the most from them.

"That Jones kid mixed things up really well," said Fulghum. "We did have some timely hits, though, and I was proud of the kids for that."

Eastern Wayne would tack on one more run in the inning on a ground out by Tyler Wicks to push the lead to four.

The four-run lead was all Otellio needed as he worked around base runners and got the big outs when he needed them.

In the fourth inning with Beddingfield runners on first and third with two outs, Otellio struck out Alex Draughan to end the threat.

Otellio was again in trouble in the sixth inning when two walks and a one-out double by Parker Bass cut the Eastern Wayne lead to 5-2.

Otellio then gave way to Harr, who got pinch-hitter Trevor Bynum to ground out. On the play, Wooten alertly threw behind the runner on third who was tagged out to end the inning.

Harr then closed things out in the seventh inning 1-2-3 to pick up his third save.

"Corey's been in that role for the last two or three weeks," Fulghum said. "He's been doing a great job of throwing ground balls. He's been a real asset to our pitching staff."

The victory keeps Eastern Wayne (10-11, 6-2 ECC) within striking defense of first place Charles B. Aycock (7-1 ECC) in the ECC. The Warriors will face the Golden Falcons this Tuesday.

Beddingfield 000 101 0 -- 2 4 3

Eastern Wayne 103 100 x -- 5 6 1

Leading Hitters -- Beddingfield -- Parker Bass 1-3, 2B, RBI; Aaron Dews 1-1, R. Eastern Wayne -- John Wooten 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Taylor Sutton 1-2, RBI; Chad Gurley 1-2, 2B, R.

LOB -- Beddingfield 5, Eastern Wayne 3. SB -- Ransome, Wicks. CS-- Lucas, Ransome, Sutton, Frederick.

IP H R ER BB SO

Beddingfield

Jones (L) 6 6 5 4 2 5

Eastern Wayne

Otellio (W, 1-0) 51/3 4 2 1 5 9

Harr (S, 3) 12/3 0 0 0 0 0

WP -- Jones 2, Otellio 3. PB -- Wicks, Dew. T -- 2:10