WCDS uses lates error ti nip Eagles
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on April 11, 2010 1:50 AM
Sluggish for the better part of four innings, Wayne Country Day finally found the "on" switch Friday afternoon.
Cole Davis scored on an error off the bat of Dare Uzzell to cap a five-run rally over the last three innings in a 6-5 win over Wayne Christian on day two of the Charger Diamond Classic.
The Chargers loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning and Uzzell's dribbler up the middle of the infield off Eagles' reliever Gregory Johnson was booted. Davis scored to end the ballgame.
Cody Neal's three-run home run to right field in the home half of the sixth tied the game at 5-5. The homer was Neal's second in as many days.
Wayne Country Day toiled through the first four innings, committing an error that later led to a run, stranding four runners and being thrown out twice on the basepaths.
"The first four innings we were kind of shaky on the defensive end," said Chargers' head coach Michael Taylor. "We settled in. You could tell today they wanted this game, they wanted this win. Dare put the ball in play and made them do something with it."
Wayne Christian was plagued by five errors, including four in the last three innings.
"The error before the home run really set that up," said Eagles head coach Greg Johnson. "They got relaxed and hit the ball well. They deserved to win."
Wayne Country Day starting pitcher Cameron Ford kept Wayne Christian off the scoreboard over the final three innings after the Eagles scored four runs in the top of the fourth.
Ford sat Wayne Christian down in order in the fifth. The senior right-hander pitched a complete game, surrendering five runs (four earned) on six hits with five strikeouts and six walks on 100-plus pitches. He gave up just one hit after the fourth inning.
"The fifth inning was big as far as Cameron's confidence goes," said Taylor. "He was kind of losing that confidence at first, but he gained his composure back. He's a senior and that's what he's supposed to do. He showed his senior leadership today."
Ford's RBI single in the bottom of the fifth pulled the Chargers to within 5-2. Ford finished with three hits and an RBI. Uzzell added two hits.
The Eagles pushed across four runs on two hits, two walks, two fielder's choices and an error in the top of the fourth inning.
Chase Darden's infield single gave Wayne Christian a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Darden and Stephen Gallagher both collected two hits and two RBI.
Wayne Country Day tied the game at 1-1 when Tyson Pearson scored on an error in the bottom of the third.
The Chargers (7-6 overall) visit Epiphany on Tuesday.
"Having this win is a huge confidence booster," said Taylor. "That puts us back over .500 for the first time in quite a while. These two wins this week couldn't have come at a better time."