Southern Wayne finishes strong in crazy contest

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on May 5, 2010 1:47 PM

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DUDLEY -- North Lenoir looked perfectly poised to pull a significant upset on Tuesday night at the Doyle Whitfield Athletic Complex.

For five innings.

Southern Wayne stormed back with a wild home half of the sixth to claim a 13-9 victory in the opening round of the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference tournament. The game was suspended with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning due to heavy fog that made it impossible for the outfielders to see the ball as it came off the bat.

The teams had every intention of finishing the contest today when they left the park, but a ruling that made the game official after the stoppage granted the Saints safe passage into the tournament semifinals on Thursday.

Southern Wayne (14-11 overall) will travel to C.B. Aycock for a rematch of last week's thriller in Pikeville.

The Saints' offense sputtered on Tuesday until Hawks head coach Jim Montague went to his bullpen in the bottom of the sixth with two runs in and no outs on the board. Caleb Kearney got the call, but did not fair any better than starter Scott Ginn.

Ginn left the game with a 9-0 lead and two men on base.

Taylor Gainey greeted Kearney with a walk and was followed by Ashton Cox fielder's choice that plated a run. Keith Jones walked and Tyler Gainey belted a three-run single that slipped past the Hawks outfielder and rolled all the way to the fence.

Kearney exited and John Delaney strode to the mound with his team clinging to a 9-6 advantage.

Cody Davis, Kevin Wise and Zach Grantham each belted base hits against the Hawks' third hurler. Taylor Brock then pulled the Saints within one run with an RBI double.

Delaney left the mound and Montague turned to his fourth pitcher of the inning -- Chastin Radford.

Will Broadwell delivered the knockout punch for Southern Wayne when he hammered a fastball over the left field fence that gave the Saints their first lead of the night, 10-9. Keith Jones doubled, Tyler Gainey singled and Cody Davis cleared the bases with an RBI triple before play was stopped due to heavy fog.

"It seems like it's feast or famine with these guys," said Saints head coach Trae McKee after the stoppage. "We can't string any hits together for five innings, and all of the sudden everyone starts hitting in the sixth. It was a crazy night."

Broadwell earned the win on the mound for Southern Wayne by pitching 4 2/3 innings in relief of Tyler Gainey. Broadwell struck out one batter and did not issue a walk.

Spencer Bass led the Hawks' offense with two hits, both home runs, and three RBI. Rand Jackson tallied four hits and two RBI. North Lenoir concluded the year 7-14 overall.