Eastern Wayne upsets D.H. Conley
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on May 21, 2011 10:57 PM
GREENVILLE -- Logan Wicks looked comfortable on the mound.
Wesley Stewart seemed equally at home at the plate.
The pair keyed a third round playoff upset as Eastern Wayne dropped D.H. Conley 6-2 on the baseball diamond Friday night.
Eastern Wayne advanced to the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A east sectional final where they will meet Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference rival North Lenoir on Tuesday. First pitch from New Hope is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Wicks tossed six gritty innings en route to the victory. He struck out five batters and only allowed one walk on the night. Coming off a back injury less than a month ago, Wicks gave the Warriors exactly what they needed to slow down the Vikings.
"I can't say enough about how well Logan pitched tonight," Eastern Wayne head coach Jabo Fulghum said. "He located his curveball and used the fastball to set guys up in the count. He picked a great time to throw his best game of the season."
The Vikings took an early lead after a miscue on the Warrior infield led to an unearned run in the bottom of the second inning.
Eastern Wayne immediately answered in the top of the third.
Hunter Barnett drew a walk and was chased around by a single off the bat of Dante Arthur. Barnett scored on a wild pitch and Arthur came around one batter later on an RBI single from Greg Simms.
The Warriors added two more runs in the fifth inning as Barnett scored for the second time on a wild pitch and Arthur crossed home when the Vikings made a critical error on the infield.
Staked to a 4-1 lead, Wicks settled in for the duration.
"We were able to manufacture a couple of runs and that really seemed to give us some confidence," Fulghum said. "The guys at the bottom of the order hit the ball and made things happen on the bases."
Stewart capped the Warriors scoring in the sixth inning with his first career varsity home run. After watching a ball in the dirt, Stewart stepped into the batter's box and lifted a fly ball to left field. The ball hit the top or the fence, shot straight up into the night and landed on the other side.
"That was a big big hit in the ballgame," Fulghum said. "Up 4-1 its still nip-and-tuck, but once we got up 6-1 I felt like we were going to be alright."
The Vikings added a run in the bottom of the sixth as Wicks departed the contest. Zack Mozingo pitched the seventh inning in relief.