Eastern Wayne capitalizes on crucial two-out hits

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on March 25, 2011 1:47 PM

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There's no price tag for two-out hits.

Eastern Wayne can attest to that.

The Warriors scored all five of their runs with two outs and held off defending eastern 3-A champion Wilson Hunt for a 5-3, non-conference win on Thursday afternoon in New Hope.

Eastern Wayne starting pitcher Hunter Barnette pitched in and out of trouble during his six innings on the mound. The Spring Creek transfer worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning.

Hunt stranded runners on first and third base in the second inning, and left on a runner on third base in the third inning. The visiting Warriors left six base runners on through the first three innings and finished with nine men left on base.

In his second start of the season, Barnette scattered seven hits with one walk and one strikeout to earn the win.

"Barnette pitched a good ballgame," said Eastern Wayne head coach Jabo Fulghum. "He kept the ball down for the most part and kept it on the outer half of the plate. I tell our pitchers, 'keep us to where we're competitive so we've got a chance at the end of the game.'

"Hunter kept us in it."

Logan Wicks' two-out, two-run double in the home half of the fourth inning gave Eastern Wayne a 2-0 lead. Wicks later scored on a wild pitch.

Nolan James' two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the fifth inning increased the lead to 5-0.

"Logan Wicks started it off by hitting a breaking ball to the back side," said Fulghum. "That's where you're supposed to go with it. We got some timely hits."

Ches Lamm's RBI single and Avery Harper's two-run double in the top of the seventh inning pulled Hunt to within 5-3. Deion Doubledee grounded out with the tying runs on base to end the ballgame.

Doubledee took the loss on the mound. He allowed five earned runs on five hits with two walks and a strikeout in two innings of relief. Cory Nygard led Hunt with three hits.

Eastern Wayne (7-3 overall) travels to Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference foe Triton today.