Gators use speed to beat Bulldawgs
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on March 26, 2010 1:47 PM
PRINCETON -- Spring Creek traded out its baseball cleats for track shoes and raced past Princeton 16-4 in the Carolina 1-A Conference baseball opener for both teams Thursday evening.
The Gators stole 10 bases on the night and took every opportunity to pick up an extra base on a hit to the outfield.
"Speed is probably the strength of this team and tonight we saw that we might be able to run a little bit," said Spring Creek head coach Heath Whitfield. "We forced the action by being aggressive and that led to runs."
The Gators scored in the first inning when Corey Howell singled, stole second and scored on a passed ball. Duane Gurganus belted a solo home run in the top of the third to make the advantage 2-0.
A five-run fourth inning put the game out of reach.
Chris Nichols reached on an error and was followed by Ricky Brayboy's two-run home run. Chris Boseman belted a double and scored when the ball kicked away from the Bulldogs' outfielder. Dontay Boseman reached on an error, Gurganus drew a walk and Eric Evans delivered an RBI double.
Nichols capped the outburst with a bases-loaded walk.
"It's hard to pitch around walks and errors, and tonight we made way too many mistakes," said Princeton head coach Bruce Proctor. "We had trouble throwing people out and we put ourselves in bad positions."
The Bulldawgs scored two runs in the home half of the fourth when Patrick Jacobs walked, Tyler Daniels delivered an RBI groundout and Benton Myers singled. Dylan Myers immediately plated his brother with a base hit.
Holding a 7-2 lead, Gurganus settled down and quelled the rally. The talented sophomore earned the win on the pitcher's mound by pitching five solid innings and striking out two batters.
"Duane battled for us tonight because he wasn't his sharpest," said Whitfield. "(Gurganus) is not the kind of guy that is going to beat himself very often."
Hunter Barnette tossed two perfect innings of relief for the Gators.
Howell led the victors at the plate with a three-hit effort. Gurganus finished 2-for-3 with four RBI. Chris Boseman also tallied two hits including a double and scored three runs.
Benton Myers finished with three hits for the Bulldawgs.