Beachem shuts down Triton bats

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 26, 2010 1:47 PM

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Zach Beachem did his job.

His teammates gave him the help.

Beachem tossed a three-hitter and Eastern Wayne benefited from Triton's third-inning graciousness in a 10-1 victory at Warrior Field on Thursday evening. The Warriors (4-6 overall) seized their third consecutive decision and remained unbeaten in two Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference contests.

"Any conference win is much-needed," said Eastern Wayne head coach Jabo Fulghum. "We couldn't quite put it together in non-conference, but we have played better every game. We didn't pitch extremely well tonight, but we did find a way."

Beachem threw 107 pitches, including 64 strikes, during his six-inning stint. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound southpaw yielded a first-inning run, recorded nine strikeouts and held Triton well below its .367 team batting average.

The Hawks (5-3, 1-1 ECC) put runners on base in five of seven innings. However, the visitors left four men in scoring position with either one or two outs on the board. Triton stranded nine runners overall.

"Zach found his breaking pitch around the third inning and kept us in it," said Fulghum. "I was proud of him for staying in the game, even though he didn't have his best stuff today."

Eastern Wayne knotted the game at 1-1 when speedster Jose Ponce and Robert Faucette executed a two-out, double steal in the second inning. Ponce appeared to have the game-tying single during his at-bat, but the Hawks' defense gunned down Zach Mozingo at the plate.

Triton threatened in the third inning. With one out and Nick Glover (2-for-3, RBI) in the batter's box, Beacham lost control of a pitch that bounced in front of the plate and catcher Cambric Moye blocked with his chest protector.

Beacham fielded the deflection and threw the Hawks' Bryant Wood out at third base. The heads-up move sparked the Warriors.

"We had some good defensive plays," said Fulghum.

Tied at 1-1, designated hitter Josh Frederick drew a lead-off to start Eastern Wayne's third-inning outburst. With one out, Glover plunked Moye and Beacham on back-to-back pitches, which loaded the bases.

Mozingo plated Frederick with a single and Moye trotted home when Glover plunked Hunter Newsome. Wood replaced Glover on the mound and coaxed an infield pop-up from Ponce.

One pitch later, Faucette stroked a three-RBI triple into right center field. Michael Fields capped the six-run inning with a double to left field, and the Warriors led 7-1.

"Robert came up with a big hit," said Fulghum. "At times this year, we have faced that same situation and hit into a double play. But that's baseball."

Beacham retired 10 of the final 12 batters he faced, and threw a perfect fifth and sixth innings. Right-handed reliever Nolan James tossed a scoreless seventh and ended the game with a strikeout.

"Our kids have played well this week," said Fulghum. "I'm proud of them, but we've got eight more big conference games and every one is precious. We've got to keep our heads high and keep working."