Wayne County rolls over Princeton

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on July 10, 2007 1:48 PM

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Derek Limbaugh tossed a two-hitter and Wayne County rolled past Princeton 11-1 during opening-round play of the Eastern N.C. Babe Ruth 13U District 4 tournament Monday evening.

Limbaugh retired the final seven batters he faced in the contest, which was shortened to 41/2 innings by the 10-run mercy rule.

"I thought Derek was outstanding," said Wayne County coach Rick Grantham. "The longer he went, the better he got. He struggled a little there at the beginning and settled down.

"He couldn't get anything over but his fastball for a while, then he got slider over. But he didn't throw a curveball for a strike."

A right-hander, Limbaugh induced seven ground-ball outs and fanned three Princeton batters. He benefited from an inning-ending double play in the third that deflated Princeton.

Matt Evans reached on an infield error and moved to second on Anthony Martin's sacrifice bunt. Limbaugh walked Tyler Daniels, but coerced Austin Lee into the double-play grounder.

"The double play got to them," said Princeton coach Buck Pipkin. "Once they settled down, they leveled back off. But Wayne County base hit the ball good and all you can do is throw it back in (from the outfield)."

Six of nine Wayne County starters contributed at least one hit. Shortstop Zach Grantham batted 2-for-2 with two RBI, while third baseman Wes Capps added two hits.

Will Winslow, Keenan Winn, Taylor Brock (two RBI), Limbaugh and pinch-hitter Benito Avila contributed one hit apiece.

Princeton grabbed a 1-0 lead on back-to-back singles and an infield throwing error in the second inning. Wayne County answered with back-to-back singles from Capps and Limbaugh, and each scored on an error and wild pitch, respectively.

Wayne County sent a combined 16 batters to the plate in the third and fourth innings. Brock, Winslow, Jeff Davis and Grantham delivered RBI hits during that stretch.

"Their kid (Austin Lee) threw the ball well until he got a little frustrated," said coach Grantham. "He got a lot of strikes early and threw the ball by some kids. Then we squared up a couple of balls and steam rolled from there."

Wayne County faces Wilson County at 6 p.m. today on the Eastern Carolina Athletic Park diamond. Grantham said left-hander Bryant Stafford will start on the mound.

"All I told them was win and advance," said coach Grantham. "We've got one under our belt and just hope for the best tonight."

Princeton 010 00 -- 1 2 1

Wayne County 022 7x -- 11 9 1

Leading hitters -- Princeton -- Austin Cook 1-2; Brandon Jones 1-2. Wayne County -- Will Winslow 1-2, 2 RBI; Keenan Winn 1-3, RBI; Zach Grantham 2-2, 2 RBI; Taylor Brock 1-2, 3B, 2 RBI; Wes Capps 2-2; Benito Avila 1-1; Derek Limbaugh 1-2.

DP -- Wayne County 1. TP -- Princeton 1. SB -- Winslow, Winn, Capps.

IP H R ER BB SO

Princeton

Lee (L, 0-1) 4 9 11 11 5 3

Wayne County

Limbaugh (W, 1-0) 5 2 1 1 2 3