Warriors pound out victory

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on May 17, 2009 2:00 AM

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It doesn't get any better than this.

State-ranked Eastern Wayne pounded out 11 hits and Josh Frederick recorded seven strikeouts in an opening-round, 15-2 rout of Northeast Guilford on Friday evening.

The Warriors (20-4) entertain West Carteret in a second-round, N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A playoff game at 7 p.m. on Monday. It is a rematch of their first-round contest in 2007 won by the Patriots.

"The kids came out here and we clicked on all cylinders, and I was pleased with our total effort," said Warriors head coach Jabo Fulghum. "You could see it in the kids' eyes tonight. They wanted it and they're hungry. When you get to this point you better be hungry because if you're not, somebody's going to beat your tail.

"We're not satisfied. We won the conference and the conference tournament, but our overall goal every year is to win a state championship."

John Wooten's RBI single and Cambric Moye's sacrifice fly gave the Warriors a 2-0 advantage in their first at-bat of the evening. Northeast Guilford pulled within 2-1 on Evan Underhill's second-inning, solo home run.

The Warriors answered.

Walker Gourley drew a bases-loaded walk in the second inning. Hunter Newsome and Wooten each scored on a wild pitch to extend Eastern Wayne's lead to 5-1.

The Rams pulled within 5-2 before the Warriors broke the game open. Frederick and Zach Beachem each trotted home on a wild pitch. Gourley (3-for-3, four RBI) supplied a two-run homer to make the score 9-2.

Gourley homered for the second straight game.

"Walker is seeing the ball well right now," said Fulghum. "Anytime you hit the ball well, you're seeing it well. It looks like a watermelon coming in. We've got some depth up and down hitting wise."

Robert Faucette's two-run, fourth-inning home run increased the lead to 11-2. Newsome and Gourley tacked on back-to-back RBI singles, and Colton Fulghum added an RBI double. Gourley scored on an error to cap Warriors' scoring and induce the mercy rule.

Frederick, Fulghum (RBI) and Beachem each had two hits. A junior left-hander, Frederick allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits.

"Josh threw the ball well," said coach Fulghum. "He threw the ball well in and out. He needs to get his change-up a little bit better. I'm very proud of Josh. He kept the ball down for the most part and he hit some spots."