Senior Legion: DuBose throws complete game against Pitt County 160

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on June 24, 2009 11:26 AM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- "You got one left?"

Eric DuBose said "yes" each time Wayne County Post 11 manager Brad Reaves asked the question Tuesday evening. The soft-spoken southpaw threw a superb complete-game, six-hitter in a crucial 8-2 conquest of Pitt County 160 at Scarborough Field.

The victory kept Wayne County (7-4 overall) in contention for the Area I East South Division title with key contests looming over the next 24 hours. Post 11 is the guest of Pitt County 39 today and entertains long-time nemesis New Bern on Thursday.

First pitch is 7 p.m. for both games.

DuBose (2-1) didn't think he'd last long. Pitt 160 cranked out four hits and logged two second-inning runs as DuBose struggled to find any pitch that resulted in a strike.

"I couldn't locate ... fastball, curveball, change-up, splitter ... nothing," said DuBose. "When you get behind in the counts, you automatically go to your fastball and me not being able to throw my fastball for a strike, I didn't want to take the chance of throwing a curveball and having a wild pitch."

DuBose's fortunes changed.

The lanky hurler wiggled out of third-inning trouble and Pitt 160 threatened just twice the remainder of the game. DuBose tossed seven scoreless innings and retired the final 11 batters he faced for his first-ever complete outing in a Legion uniform.

The defense helped DuBose, too. Right fielder Kevin Wise snagged Tanner Lovick's deep fly ball at the wall. Shortstop Tyler Edwards, DuBose and first baseman Scott Holloman turned a 1-6-3 double play to end a sixth-inning rally.

"Eric is not going to knock it out of anybody's hands, but he's so smart up there," said Reaves. "I thought (catcher) Cambric (Moye) did a good job of setting up the hitters tonight. After the second inning, Eric threw three pitches for strikes. He got ahead, he pitched backwards when he needed to ... settled in and finally found it."

DuBose's effort saved Post 11's bullpen.

Reaves didn't name a starter for tonight's game, but was thankful that DuBose kept his composure.

"My arm started feeling better (after the third)," said DuBose, who threw 113 pitches. "Cambric and I were more in sync and I finally got my pitches down in the zone."

Unlike previous games during Reaves' career, Wayne County swung the sticks early against Pitt 160 right-hander Jordan Corbett. A passed ball and Edwards' two-out, two-RBI single gave Post 11 the lead for good in the second inning.

East Carolina signee John Wooten swatted a lead-off homer, his second of the season, to start the third inning. Wooten, Moye and Cody Richards fueled a three-run, fifth-inning uprising.

Moye accounted for the final RBI when he was plunked by reliever Stewart Burnette in the sixth inning. Moye was hit three times in the game.

"I always feel like we're going to score runs," said Reaves. "I knew they had a good arm on the mound. The Corbett boy is about as good as we're going to see in this league. With all my teams, I've always felt like we're going to score runs.

"It's just a matter of when."