Post 39's Houmand cools hot-hitting Wayne County
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on June 14, 2010 1:46 PM
MOUNT OLIVE -- Two hits.
Two runs.
Five base runners overall.
Those statistics loomed large as Wayne County Post 11 endured a rain-shortened, 3-2 loss to nemesis Pitt County Post 39 early Sunday evening at Scarborough Field.
The defeat left Post 11 winless in two Area I East South contests this season, and disappointed first-year head coach Rob Watt.
"(Pitt) played better than we did tonight on every side of the baseball," said Watt. "I felt like Zack (Mozingo) pitched well enough for us to win. When you give the opposition just three runs, you've given your team a chance to win."
Post 39 right-hander Matt Houmand had other ideas.
The J.H. Rose graduate threw a two-hitter and held hot-hitting Wayne County to its season-low offensive output. He recorded eight punchouts in 61/3 innings and walked one, helping Pitt County keep sole possession of first place in division play.
Post 11 averaged nearly 13 runs an outing and batted .357 as a team before facing Houmand.
"We ran into a kid who really commanded the zone and threw three pitches -- all for strikes," said Watt. "He kept our guys off balance pretty good. We didn't do a good job with two strikes, shortening up our swing and putting the ball in play.
"(That's) very uncharacteristic of this team. You just don't expect that when we have been swinging the bats the way we have (this season)."
Mozingo (1-1) permitted four base runners the first two innings, but escaped trouble with inning-ending strikeouts. Post 11 finally conceded the game's first run on Chase McDonald's RBI groundout in the third inning.
Wayne County (6-2, 0-2 South) answered in the fourth.
Tyler Edwards (1-for-3) reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and scored on Adron Hollowell's RBI single to right center. Cambric Moye, who reached on a walk, trotted home on Nicholas McGee's sacrifice fly to left field.
Pitt retook the lead in the fifth on Sean Peters' two-out, two-RBI double down the right-field line. Peters, Houmand, McDonald and Dillon Ross combined for six of Post 39's seven hits against Mozingo.
"They did a good job against both of our pitchers, making them throw strikes," said Watt, who threw Josh Frederick in the seventh. "They did a good job with two strikes putting the ball in play. They took our gameplan to us."
Houmand retired eight of the final nine batters he faced, and got some help from Mother Nature in the seventh. With one out, McGee stepped into the batter's box and worked Houmand to a 3-2 count.
A gentle rain turned into a drenching storm that forced each team into their respective dugout. Thirty minutes later, the torrential rain rendered the field unplayable and Post 39 exited with a victory.
Wayne County begins a stretch of six games in a six-day period Tuesday at New Bern Post 24. First pitch is 7 p.m. at Boykin Field.