Wayne North bests Spring Creek

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on July 3, 2010 11:34 PM

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Wayne County North's 1-3 start to the Junior American Legion season must feel like a distant memory now.

The Warriors defeated Spring Creek 8-1 on Friday evening in New Hope and claimed the division championship. Wayne North has won 10 games in a row.

"These kids have battled hard for 10 ballgames and I'm proud of them because of that," Warriors head coach Roger May said. "We have made the progression. I've seen a lot of progression and that's been a good thing. If this group right here stays together and works hard at it they've got potential."

Nolan James pitched five shutout innings and surrendered just one hit to earn the win on the mound. The right-hander struck out seven and walked two.

Josh Dixon and Jeremy Lancaster each tossed an inning of relief.

"Nolan's got a lot of potential," May said. "When Nolan progresses and gets the command of his three pitches he's going to be a heck of a pitcher. He's got a great arm and he's got great arm strength. Once he commands three pitches he's going to be tough."

Wesley Capps' two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the second inning gave Wayne North a 2-0 lead.

James' RBI single in the home of the third extended the Warriors' advantage to 3-0. Ryan Faucette scored on a Gators' error and Joe Herlihy raced home as part of a double-steal. Lancaster added a sacrifice-fly to increase the lead to 6-0.

Wayne North benefited from three Spring Creek errors in the third inning. The Gators finished with four defensive miscues and collected just two hits offensively.

"I told the boys I've been pretty pleased every night this summer except tonight," Spring Creek head coach Heath Whitfield said. "It looked like tonight once we got down we just sort of hung our heads and quit a little bit. We didn't have any fight at all and we misplayed a lot of balls that are usually routine plays that we usually make in the field."

Justin Lee scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth and James added an RBI single. James finished 2 for 2 at the plate with a pair of RBI.

The Gators (5-5) picked up a run in the top of the seventh inning on a bases-loaded walk.

The Warriors (15-5, 8-2) entertain Northern Nash on Tuesday night before beginning play in the Junior American Legion regional tournament on Friday. The regional is being played at Southern Wayne High School and Mount Olive College.