Falcons soar

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on March 20, 2009 1:46 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- If only they were all this easy.

Charles B. Aycock strung together a pair of five-run innings and cruised past Wilson Beddingfield 13-1 in 41/2 innings on Thursday afternoon.

It was the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference opener for the Golden Falcons.

Aycock right-hander Adron Hollowell allowed a lead-off double and a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the first inning before quickly finding his groove on the mound.

The Bruins never threatened again as Hollowell allowed just one run on one hit with four strikeouts and no walks over four innings of work for the win.

"Adron has probably thrown more in relief over the course of his career than he has as a starter," said Golden Falcons head coach Charles Davis. "We're in the process of kind of working him both ways. He came out and got the ball a couple times up in the first inning.

"But, he came out in the second inning and was able to spot his off-speed stuff and spot his fastball. If he's able to do that, he's going to get a lot of people out."

Aycock answered Beddingfield's go-ahead run with five runs of its own in the bottom of the first. Jonathan Taylor's RBI double scored Will Edgerton to tie the game at 1-1. Hollowell followed with a two-run double, which pushed the Golden Falcons' lead to 3-1.

Jeff Carmel and Tyler Farmer each added RBI singles to cap the five-run first that saw Aycock send 11 batters to the plate.

Nick McGee tacked on an RBI single in the home half of the second that extended the Golden Falcons' advantage to 6-1.

Edgerton's two-run home run to left off Bruins' starting pitcher Marqui Ransome in the bottom of the third increased the margin to 8-1. Taylor added an RBI groundout and Hollowell belted a two-run homer to right center field.

Hollowell finished 2-for-3 at the plate with four RBI. Edgerton, Connor Narron and Taylor each recorded two hits.

"It all starts with quality at-bats and I thought today we had some very quality at-bats," said Davis. "Scoring in bunches is a big plus any time because that takes all the pressure off your pitching.

"The guys relax and it's not quite as tense and everything for them. It looked like today we took a big step in the right direction."

Narron's two-run homer to left in the bottom of the fourth completed Aycock's scoring. The Golden Falcons sent 34 batters to the plate compared to just 16 for Beddingfield.

Aycock (6-1 overall, 1-0 ECC) can pick up its second conference win of the season today at Kinston. Game time is 5 p.m.

Davis stressed handling success the right way while being mindful of the past during his postgame message to his team on Thursday.

"I just reminded my guys of what happened two years ago at Kinston," said Davis. "We went over there two years ago and got beat. Putting the uniform on three days in a row is tough for high school kids.

"We just won a home game and now we've got to prove we can go win a conference game on the road. Tomorrow will be a great test for us against a much improved team."