E. Wayne baseball takes game from S. Wayne

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on April 14, 2011 1:47 PM

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With a pair of critical Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference games on back-to-back days, Eastern Wayne wasn't about to get caught looking ahead.

The Warriors jumped to an early lead and held on for a 5-3 win over Southern Wayne on Wednesday night in New Hope.

Greg Simms' solo home run in the bottom of the second inning gave Eastern Wayne a 1-0 lead. Nolan James scored on Ryan Faucette's RBI groundout and Hunter Barnette added an RBI single. Simms, James and Faucette (two RBI) each finished with two hits.

"We put the ball in play," said Eastern Wayne head coach Jabo Fulghum. "We found some holes. We hit the ball with runners in scoring position. We knew this was a tough contest coming in here. This is always a tough ballgame with Southern Wayne and Eastern Wayne."

Colton Crisman's two-run single in the top of the fourth inning pulled the Saints to within 3-2.

Simms scored on a Southern Wayne error in the bottom of the fourth inning. Faucette's RBI single stretch the lead to 5-2.

The Saints threatened with runners on first and second base, and one out in the top of the fifth. Warriors' starting pitcher Logan Wicks got Zach Grantham to ground into an inning-ending double-play.

Taylor Brock's solo home run in the top of the sixth inning pulled the Saints to within 5-3.

"We needed some timely hits tonight but we didn't get them," said Southern Wayne head coach Trae McKee. "We've got to bounce back tomorrow."

Wicks earned the win on the mound. He surrendered three earned runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and four walks in five innings of work. Zach Mozingo struck out the final six Southern Wayne batters of the game to earn the save.

Eastern Wayne (11-5 overall, 6-3 ECC) created a two-way tie with Southern Wayne (10-5, 6-3) for third place in the ECC. The Warriors visit league-leading Charles B. Aycock tonight, while the Saints play host to South Johnston. Each game begins at 7 p.m.

"I'm ready for a challenge," said Fulghum. "The last time (against Aycock) we lost 3-2. They got some timely hits last time. Now is the time to see what we're made of. We're going to go to a hostile environment to play and we should be ready for it."