CBA-Benson

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on May 27, 2010 1:47 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- What a way to start.

Charles B. Aycock opened its Junior American Legion baseball season with a 16-0 thrashing of Benson in 41/2 innings on Wednesday night.

The Golden Falcons tallied 16 hits, while Bryant Stafford and Avery Anderson combined to hold Benson hitless.

"We pitched the ball well," said Aycock head coach Nelson Cunningham. "The offense swung the bat real well. I couldn't ask for anything else."

Cameron Taylor and Jeff Davis both delivered two-out RBI singles in the bottom of the first inning to give the Golden Falcons a 2-0 lead. Michael Roscoe and Stafford each drew bases-loaded walks to extend the lead to 4-0.

Collin DuBose's three-run homer in the home half of the second gave Aycock a 7-0 lead. Jeff Barbour added an RBI double. Stafford's two-run double pushed the lead to 10-0.

Travis Musselman also had a two-run double as part of the Golden Falcons' eight-run second inning. Aycock sent 22 batters to the plate in the first two innings.

Adam Pate, Musselman (3 RBI) and Davis (4 RBI) all finished with three hits apiece.

"The first inning we were aggressive running and taking extra bases," said Cunningham. "So we had two big base hits with two outs in the first. DuBose and Jeff Davis had big home runs. We hit the ball good tonight."

Benson managed just two base runners, both of which were hit by pitches. Stafford sat down Benson in order in the first three innings and earned the win, striking out seven with no walks in 32/3 innings of work.

"Bryant had a really nice carry over from the varsity season," said Cunningham. "Today we used some off-speed stuff a lot. He's had a couple weeks off, and worked in the bullpen and he did a good job."

Anderson tossed 11/3 innings of no-hit relief, striking out two and walking none.

The Golden Falcons entertain North Lenoir tonight.

"I think this year you've got to win the conference to go on to the regionals," said Cunningham. "It is important to get started early and we've got a new group of guys in the mixture. It's good to come out get a little confidence in that first ballgame and play well so you can feed off of it."