Hollowell's homer caps Aycock rally
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 31, 2010 1:46 PM
PIKEVILLE -- County baseball archrivals Charles B. Aycock and Eastern Wayne traded big hits throughout their Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference affair Tuesday afternoon.
Adron Hollowell saved the biggest hit for last.
Haunted by a change-up that resulted in two strikeouts and a lazy fly ball to left field during his first three at-bats, the Louisburg College signee finally turned on a pitch at the right time. Hollowell's three-RBI, sixth-inning home run capped the Golden Falcons' come-from-behind, 6-5 victory.
Aycock (11-1 overall) claimed sole possession of the ECC race at 3-0. Eastern Wayne, the two-time defending league champion, suffered its first conference loss in three tries this spring.
"We've been down some games this year and the good thing about it is when our kids get behind, they still feel like they can come back and win," said Golden Falcons head coach Charles Davis. "That's what I like about this group. They hang in there."
Especially Hollowell.
Tyler Farmer, who recorded a game-high three hits, started Aycock's game-winning rally with a single through the left side in the sixth. Connor Narron drew his third walk of the afternoon, which brought Hollowell to the plate.
Facing a 1-1 count, Hollowell stretched his bat toward the outside of the plate and smacked Zach Mozingo's offering into the tree in center field. It was Hollowell's fifth homer of the season and 11th overall for the Golden Falcons.
"We had gotten him out all day long on the same pitch," said Warriors head coach Jabo Fulghum. "We left the change-up up, instead of down. I don't know if he (Mozingo) was a little bit tired, but my hat's off to (Hollowell)."
Aycock tallied 12 hits, but batted just 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The Golden Falcons stranded nine men on the basepaths with seven at either second or third base.
Eastern Wayne (4-7) collected four hits, including a three-run homer by Robert Faucette in the second inning. It was Faucette's first of the season and the Warriors' fifth as a team.
Golden Falcons' left-hander Bryant Stafford left after plunking Michael Fields in the second inning. Southpaw Aaron Champion took over and retired eight consecutive batters before yielding a lead-off single to Fields in the fifth.
The Warriors loaded the bases on Fields' single, Colton Fulghum's double and an intentional walk to Cambric Moye. Champion got the double-play grounder he wanted, but the relay throw to second base deflected off Moye and sailed into left field.
Eastern Wayne led 5-3.
"Our kids know what to do, but didn't do it with the bases loaded," said Davis. "We didn't play particularly well today execution-wise."
Champion (2-0) avoided further damage by inducing an inning-ending groundout, and he sat down the final eight batters he faced. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound sophomore controlled his two-seam fastball that had a lot of movement toward the plate.
The Warriors never adjusted.
"We had a lot of fly-ball outs ... didn't put a lot of pressure on their defense," said Fulghum. "I'm not worried about our intensity, but worried about us doing the right things at the crucial times.
"We'll be there (in the title hunt) if we work hard and stick together."