Saints clip Falcons

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on April 1, 2009 1:46 PM

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DUDLEY -- Southern Wayne earned a 5-4 victory over Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference rival Charles B. Aycock on Tuesday at the Doyle Whitfield Athletic Complex.

Both teams entered the game at the .500 mark in the league standings and in search of a signature win.

The Saints delivered.

Trailing 5-3 in the top of the seventh inning, the Golden Falcon offense went to work. Tyler Ruffin belted a double and Will Edgerton drew an intentional walk. Jonathan Taylor notched an RBI single and put runners on the corners for Adron Hollowell.

Southern Wayne reliever Tyler Edwards got ahead in the count and induced a harmless pop fly on the infield that ended the game.

"We played with a lot of enthusiasm and showed a lot of heart tonight," said Southern Wayne head coach Trae McKee. "I was really proud of the effort my guys showed."

Golden Falcons head coach Charles Davis said the outcome was determined by the first three innings.

"We lost this game early, plain and simple," said Davis. "It's just like in basketball, foul shots count just as much in the first quarter as they do in the final 10 seconds. We got behind and we lost it early."

Scott Holloman got Southern Wayne on the scoreboard with a first-inning home run to center field.

"Crossing the plate first was important, getting a little momentum," said McKee. "We have had some trouble scoring runs the past couple games, so getting a lead allowed everyone to settle down a little bit."

The Saints added a second run in the second inning. Zach Grantham walked and was chased home by a Kevin Wise base hit.

Down 2-0, C.B. Aycock evened the score one half inning later.

Tyler Farmer was hit by a pitch, Edgerton singled and Taylor plated the pair with a line drive that glanced off of a Saints infielder. Saints starter Phil Howell quelled the rally and kept his team even on the scoreboard.

"Phil did a great job on the mound, he got ahead in the count and kept guys off balance," said McKee. "He gave us five good innings and that's all you can ask."

Keenan Winn pushed the Saints back in front 3-2 with a third-inning single that plated Edwards. Holloman drove in Edwards and eventually scored on Jordan Williams single in the fifth frame.

The Saints held the advantage the rest of the evening.

Southern Wayne (6-6 overall, 3-2 ECC) will play host to Eastern Wayne on Friday. Meanwhile, C.B. Aycock (8-4, 2-3) visits Wilson Beddingfield on Friday.