Post 11 wins opener
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 21, 2011 10:57 PM
DUDLEY -- A good start.
But work to do.
Derek Limbaugh and Zack Beachem combined for a two-hitter, and Wayne County Post 11 launched its 2011 Senior American Legion campaign with a 2-1 conquest of Apex Post 124 on Saturday afternoon.
The teams meet again today at Apex. First pitch is 4 p.m.
Limbaugh permitted one hit, one earned run and allowed just six base runners in six-plus innings on the Doyle Whitfield Athletic Complex baseball diamond. Beachem, a freshman at Barton, supplied 2 2/3 innings of two-strikeout relief and claimed the mound win.
"The defense and pitching were excellent, couldn't ask for anything more," said Post 11 assistant coach Jackson Massey. "Derek threw seven strong innings and Zack closed it down. They had a bunch of lefties (in the lineup) so it worked out perfect with him coming in. A lefty (pitcher) has a little bit of movement on his pitches."
The duo combined for 13 ground-ball outs, six strikeouts and seven fly balls. Beachem coaxed Post 124 into an inning-ending, double play in the seventh after yielding a game-tying RBI single to pinch-hitter Luke Harvey.
Wayne County committed one error.
"(Catcher) Jon (Taylor), Derek and Zack did a good job of mixing up their pitches," said Massey. "We tried to get ahead with the fastball and they threw some effective breaking-ball pitches. Early in the game we started out throwing a little many breaking balls.
"They put the ball in play and we had seven guys behind him that did the job for them."
Post 11 collected five hits and struck out eight times against Post 124 right-hander Matt Tenuta and southpaw Ken Oaks. Tenuta held Wayne County scoreless for three innings, while Oaks (0-1) surrendered two unearned runs on botched pick-off throws.
Brunswick Community College freshman Tyler Ruffin scored on one errant toss in the third inning. The other miscue enabled Taylor to cross with the game-winning run in the eighth inning.
"I told the guys on third base to be aggressive on passed balls and pick-offs because they were throwing over (to first) quite a bit," said Massey. "He (Oaks) didn't seem too comfortable throwing over ... not consistently making good throws. As soon as it got away from the first baseman, I told our guys to go.
"They took care of the rest."
As did Beachem.