Wayne County South sweeps North Raleigh

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on June 15, 2009 1:47 PM

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DUDLEY -- Early-inning uprisings proved beneficial for Wayne County South during its doubleheader sweep of North Raleigh on Sunday afternoon.

Keenan Winn slugged a second-inning, two-run homer in an 8-4 victory in the opener. In the nightcap, South strolled to a 10-0 lead after three innings and claimed a 12-2, five-inning triumph on the Doyle Whitfield Athletic Complex diamond.

"We played hard all day," said South coach Trae McKee.

South (7-3 overall) swung the bats well and constantly pressured the North Raleigh defense in hot, humid conditions during game one. McKee's team capitalized on the visitors' mistakes and grabbed its eight-run advantage after two innings.

"I think we put it in cruise control after the third inning," said McKee. "I think we could have kept a little bit more focus. We had a chance to put them away, but let them hang around."

North Raleigh rallied within 8-4 and could have forced South to bat in the seventh. But Winn, who relieved Ashley Cox, earned the save with two innings of mound work.

Starting pitcher Jacob Sasser tossed four innings before Cox threw the fifth. The trio combined to permit four hits and logged six strikeouts in the seven-inning affair.

Cody Davis led South's offense with two hits and an RBI. Zack Grantham (RBI), Duane Gurganus and Taylor Brock (RBI) also contributed at the plate.

South, again, swung the sticks well and extended several innings with two-out base hits. North Raleigh obliged with defensive miscues that enabled McKee's team to grab its double-digit advantage.

Davis and Josh Crawford (2-for-2) each delivered a first-inning single. South capitalized on two hit batsmen and a couple of errors to take a 5-0 lead after its first at-bat.

Davis (2-for-2) and Grantham (two RBI) each provided a third-inning sacrifice fly, which helped ignite another five-run outburst. Cox, Crawford, Tyler Gainey, Winn, Kevin Wise and Will Broadwell each supplied a base hit during that stretch.

Wise, Winn, Broadwell and Jacob Sasser posted one RBI apiece for the game.

Gainey recorded four scoreless innings and fanned two North Raleigh batters. Raynor cleaned up in the fifth and allowed two unearned runs on one hit.

South committed three fifth-inning errors.

"Defensively, we have to clean things up and make some routine plays," said McKee. "We were good at times and other times we have to collect the outs when they give them to us."

Wayne County returns to action Tuesday at Rocky Mount. First pitch is 7 p.m.