Golden Falcons beat Hawks on softball diamond
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on March 12, 2011 11:06 PM
PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock did not play its best game on Friday night, but the Golden Falcons were close.
That was good enough to earn a 6-0 win over Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference rival North Lenoir.
Over the first three innings both teams missed opportunities to put runs on the scoreboard and appeared to be gearing up for a pitcher's duel.
"This was a scoreless game half way through because we weren't able to make adjustments at the plate," said Golden Falcons head coach Brad Matthews. "Once we started realizing what was coming up there and how to take the ball where it was pitched, we did much better."
C.B. Aycock broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning when Rachel Jordan led off with a home run. Ivy Hartzell singled, stole second and scored on a base hit by Reagan Herndon.
The Golden Falcons added two more runs in the fifth inning when Meredith Burroughs doubled, Jordan drew a walk and Ivy Hartzell ripped an RBI single. Jessica Hare capped the rally with an RBI base hit.
Two additional runs in the sixth inning proved to be plenty for C.B. Aycock hurler Brooke Bell.
"Brooke did a lot of pitching tonight which was good to see," said Matthews. "She wasn't just out there throwing hard, she was mixing pitches and really hitting spots at key times."
Bell carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning until North Lenoir shortstop Amber Best led off with a line drive single. Bell tossed a complete-game shutout, allowed one hit and struck out 10 North Lenoir batters. The only other blemishes on Bell's performance were three errors by the Golden Falcons and a hit batter.
Nicole Robinson suffered the loss in the pitcher's circle for North Lenoir.
C.B. Aycock (4-2 overall, 2-0 ECC) travels to defending ECC tournament champion South Johnston, which won all three meetings last season.
North Lenoir (2-2, 0-2) entertains reigning ECC regular-season champion Triton on Tuesday.