Warriors learn valuable lesson on diamond

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on March 10, 2011 1:47 PM

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Eastern Wayne learned a valuable early season lesson on Wednesday night.

Never take anyone lightly.

South Central scored nine runs in the first three innings and rolled to a 14-8 win over the Warriors in New Hope. The blowout came just seven days after Eastern Wayne beat South Central by the mercy rule in Winterville.

"There are three things that you can always do no matter who your opponent is," said Eastern Wayne head coach Jabo Fulghum. "You can always come prepared, you can always focus and you can always hustle ... Tonight I didn't see much of any of those things."

The Falcons opened a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning when a pair of defensive mistakes by the Warriors led to three unearned runs. The lead ballooned to 9-0 in the top of the third as three more errors led to five Falcon runs.

Eastern Wayne committed seven errors on the night.

"That's inexcusable to miss so many routine plays," said Fulghum. "It would have been one thing if they were hard plays to make, but most of them were simple things that we just messed up."

Hunter Barnett took the loss on the mound for Eastern Wayne. The Spring Creek transfer allowed nine runs over three innings, but only four of those runs were earned.

Dante Arthur led the Warriors' offense with a two-run home run, his fourth of the season. Nolan James belted a three-run blast of his own in the third inning. Logan Wicks had a double in his only at-bat.

"I guess the good news is that we played like this today and not two months from now," said Fulghum. "If playing a bad game like tonight means we are going to come out the rest of the season and play hard, I suppose I will live with it."

Eastern Wayne (3-1 overall) travels to Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference newcomer Cleveland High School on Friday.