Golden Falcons collect three runs in final three innings vs. Warriors

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on March 23, 2011 1:46 PM

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Charles Davis has seen his short-handed team battle through adversity and injuries all season.

His team didn't panic when it fell behind 1-0 and failed to get a hit through four innings against Eastern Wayne.

The Golden Falcons rallied for three runs in the final three innings and held off the Warriors, 3-2, on Tuesday afternoon. Aycock claimed sole possession of first place in the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference race.

Eastern Wayne hurler Logan Wicks faced the minimum number of batters (12) through the first four innings, and struck out four of the first nine batters he faced. But he wound up the tough-luck loser, surrendering three runs (one earned) on two hits.

Wicks' RBI single in the bottom of the second inning gave Eastern Wayne a 1-0 lead.

Mick Walker's RBI single in the top of the fifth inning, the Golden Falcons' first hit of the game, tied the score at 1-1. Collin DuBose later scored from third base as part of a delayed steal to give Aycock a 2-1 advantage.

"We've gone through a lot of adversity and injuries and some of the things we stress are believing in the guys we've got out there and doing the little things well," said Davis. "We manufactured some runs and that's what we've got to do. We actually went over that delayed steal on Monday and it pays off when you practice things like that."

Jake May's fielder's choice scored Hunter Barnett and tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth inning.

Golden Falcons' center fielder Craig Murdock led off the top of the sixth inning with an infield single. Murdock advanced to second on an error and later scored the winning run on a passed ball.

Eastern Wayne committed three errors and left eight runners on base. The Warriors stranded a pair of base runners in the fifth inning and left the bases loaded in the sixth inning.

Aycock reliever Bryant Stafford struck out Greg Simms with the tying run on second base to end the ballgame.

"Why we threw the ball through on the delayed steal I don't know," said Eastern Wayne head coach Jabo Fulghum. "We weren't supposed to and we did. We had some balls get by us behind the plate that hurt. When the ball is hit to us we've got to know what we're going to do in certain situations.

"On the flip side, we had some runners in scoring position several times today and couldn't do anything with them."

Golden Falcons' starting pitcher Aaron Champion collected the win on the mound. Champion allowed two earned runs on five hits with one strikeout and three walks in 5 2/3 innings. Stafford, who was questionable to play with a twisted ankle, earned the save and pitched 1 1/3 innings of no-hit shutout relief.

Aycock (8-2 overall, 5-0 ECC) visits Rosewood today. The Warriors (6-3, 3-1 ECC) entertain Wilson Hunt on Thursday.