Aycock rallies to beat Wilson

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on June 23, 2009 1:46 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Keep applying the pressure.

Charles B. Aycock rallied from three runs down and pushed across a go-ahead unearned run for a 5-4 win over American Junior Legion rival Wilson on Monday evening.

Tied at 4-4, Jeff Carmel led off Aycock's half of the sixth inning with a single to center field. Cameron Taylor's sacrifice bunt moved Carmel to second base.

Wilson reliever Lee Dunn threw a wild pitch to Aycock's Mick Walker, which allowed Carmel to advance to third. An errant throw to third base in an attempt to throw out Carmel got away, and Carmel raced home for the 5-4 lead.

Carmel finished 2-for-3 at the plate and also reached on an error.

"Jeff is probably the hottest hitter in the lineup right now," said Aycock head coach Nelson Cunningham. "He zoned in and did what he needed to do. He got a pitch he could handle and got us a base hit. Cameron Taylor got a bunt down and then Jeff made two good reads on dirt balls.

"We hung in there."

Aycock reliever Aaron Champion tossed four scoreless innings to earn the win. The left-hander allowed three hits, no walks and recorded a strikeout. Wilson hitters went just 3-for-15 against Champion.

"Champion came in and got us out of some trouble," said Cunningham. "That Wilson lineup might be one of the better lineups I've seen. Champion got in there and got us out of trouble, and kind of got zoned in.

"I think he smelled a win there and wanted to go get it."

Wilson led 4-1 entering the bottom of the fourth before Aycock started a comeback. Tyler Ruffin's RBI single trimmed the margin to 4-2 and he later scored on an error. Travis Musselman's bunt single and a Wilson error scored Carmel to tie the game at 4-4.

"The boys didn't give up and they had a lot to play for because the last time we played Wilson they beat us," said Cunningham. "Our boys stayed up and they work hard. They're not going to give up. They've showed us that a couple of times this year."

Trailing 1-0 in the top of the second inning, Wilson scored four runs (three earned) against Aycock starter Derek Limbaugh. Dunn had a two-run single and Parker Lamm added a run-scoring single during the outburst.

Aycock took a 1-0 lead in the home half of the first when Jon Taylor scored on a Wilson error.

Aycock (14-2 overall) visits Snow Hill today. First pitch is 7 p.m.