Southern Wayne rallies in seventh inning

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on March 27, 2010 11:41 PM

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LaGRANGE -- Southern Wayne overcame an emotional night at North Lenoir and rallied for a 3-2 victory on the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference baseball scene Friday evening.

The Saints got a gutsy pitching performance from freshman Will Raynor who did exactly what head coach Trae McKee asked him to do for six innings.

"I asked Will to throw strikes and give this team a chance to win," said McKee. "To come out in his first conference start and pitch the way he did was big for us."

Raynor took a no-decision despite allowing just two runs and no earned runs.

Trailing 2-1 in the top of the seventh inning, the Saints went to work at the plate. Cody Davis ripped a one-out single. Zach Grantham kept the visitors alive with a two-out single that was misplayed in the Hawks outfield and allowed Davis to score the game-tying run.

Taylor Brock broke the tie when he belted a two-strike curveball into center field.

"John Delaney pitched a great game, but we just couldn't execute when we had chances to add runs," said North Lenoir head coach Jim Montague. "His curve was good all night, but he may have gone to the cookie jar one too many times."

Will Broadwell entered the game for Southern Wayne and earned the mound win by tossing one solid inning of relief.

Davis led the Saints offensively with two hits and one run scored. Tyler Gainey added two singles in the win.

"These close games always seem to come down to one big hit and tonight we were able to make it happen," said McKee. "Getting a league win on the road is always good for a young team."

Southern Wayne (6-4 overall, 1-1 ECC) travels to South Johnston on Monday.

North Lenoir was paced by Chastin Radford's two-hit effort that included a double. The Hawks (3-7 overall, 0-2) travel to Triton on Wednesday.

Before the game, the Hawks' stadium was renamed in honor of former standout John Alphin. The 2008 News-Argus All-Area Pitcher-of-the-Year, Alphin was fatally injured in a car accident following his senior season.

The Alphin family along with dozens of former teammates and friends of the star hurler were in attendance for the pre-game festivities.