EW-DHC

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 26, 2011 1:47 PM

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GREENVILLE -- Eastern Wayne ran out of outs.

D.H. Conley turned a game-ending double play and escaped, 8-7, on day two of the Pitt County Spring Invitational contested at Guy Smith Stadium on a breezy Monday evening.

The Vikings (14-6 overall) logged a perfect worksheet in the Invitational with all three victories coming against Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference teams, including North Lenoir and Southern Wayne.

"The three teams we've played are outstanding and that's what we needed to see right now ... playoff caliber teams, which all three were," said Conley head coach Jason Mills. "High school baseball is a lot of fun and kids do some great things out there. That was a good win for us.

"We had a good week here."

Eastern Wayne (14-7) almost pulled off an improbable comeback.

The Warriors climbed to within a single run, 8-7, on two swings of the bat the seventh inning. Greg Simms (2-for-4) plated lead-off batter Dante Arthur with a base hit up the middle, and junior infielder Nolan James swatted a three-run home run.

Designated hitter Wes Capps drew a walk and Mills made his second trip to the mound. Hunter Nichols replaced right-hander Damien Jenkins, and coaxed a two-strike grounder from Ryan Faucette which led to the game-ending 6-4-3 double play.

"Hunter was just off-speed enough for us and got a little rollover," said Mills. "They came back hard and we knew they would."

Arthur scored on a first-inning wild pitch and Mozingo ripped a fourth-inning home run to give the Warriors a 2-0 advantage.

Eastern Wayne right-hander Logan Wicks retired the first five batters he faced, but aggravated a back injury in the second inning. Jake May threw a perfect third, but couldn't duplicate the effort in the fourth.

Conley sent 12 batters to the plate and manufactured eight runs off five hits, three errors and a passed ball. Hunter Nichols supplied a two-RBI single during that stretch to put the Vikings comfortably ahead 8-2.

Wicks injured his back last week against Triton.

"We took him out (against Triton) and have been nursing it," said Warriors head coach Jabo Fulghum. "Tonight, he looked good. When I went out there, he said 'coach, my back (pain) has come back again.'

"I thought what we piece-mealed together, the guys did good enough, but we just didn't play good defense that one inning. We didn't make the plays."

Eastern Wayne opposes Greene Central today. First pitch is 7 p.m. at South Central High School.