Chargers halt three-game losing streak

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on April 17, 2009 1:47 PM

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Wayne Country Day scored in each of the first three innings defeated Grace Christian-Raleigh 11-1 in opening-round action of the Charger Baseball Classic on Thursday afternoon.

The Chargers (4-5 overall) snapped a three-game skid behind the strong pitching of eighth-grader Cody Neal, and a solid offensive effort by the bottom third of the batting order.

"I will take a win any day," said Wayne Country Day head coach Michael Taylor said. "Today we put the ball in play, and when you do that good things happen for you."

The Chargers wasted no time offensively and broke the game open in the first inning. With two outs, Hil Tanner singled and Cameron Ford walked. Jack Scott broke the scoreless tie with an RBI hit.

Dare Uzzell singled and Tee Uzzell drew a walk. Stoan Stewart drove in two additional runs with a single and Ryan Jackson drew the Chargers' third walk of the inning.

Cole Davis capped the six-run outburst by reaching on an error that allowed two more runs to come home.

"Getting a lead in the first inning was good for our confidence," said Taylor. "Our first two guys had good at-bats but eventually made outs, so for our guys to rally with two down showed me a lot."

Wayne Country Day added three runs in the third inning.

Jackson reached on an infield single and Davis advanced him into scoring position thanks to an Eagle error. Neal connected on an RBI groundout and Tanner drove in a second run with a single.

Ford finished the rally with an RBI double.

"Our guys were really aggressive and they worked the count in their favor," said Taylor. "We didn't take a bunch of walks and we had very few strikeouts."

Neal insured the Chargers' victory by consistently throwing strikes. The diminutive right-hander tossed four innings of three-hit ball, allowed one walk and struck out three.

"We changed things up with our rotation," said Taylor. "We are going to start some of the guys that have been coming in as relievers just to see how it works out. Today Cody made it look like a great idea."

WCDS faces Trinity of Durham at 4:30 p.m. today.