Aycock, Southern Wayne athletes cop player-of-the-year accolades

By From staff reports
Published in Sports on June 8, 2011 1:47 PM

• Print
• Email

East-West All-Star baseball selection Jonathan Taylor emerged one of five county athletes to earn Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference player-of-the-year accolades for the spring sports season.

Taylor, a catcher/second baseman, helped lead Charles B. Aycock to the 2011 ECC regular-season championship. He batted .465 and clubbed 10 home runs for the Golden Falcons, who advanced to the second round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs.

Taylor will participate on the East All-Star squad, which will play a doubleheader against the West All-Stars, on June 15 at BB&T Ballpark on the Wake Forest University campus.

Joining Taylor on the all-ECC roster from Aycock were Aaron Champion, Jeff Davis, Bryant Stafford and Cameron Taylor. Head coach Charles Davis was named the ECC coach-of-the-year.

***

Junior right-hander Brooke Bell helped guide the Golden Falcons to a share of the ECC regular-season championship and was named the league's player-of-the-year. It was the program's second league crown in the past three seasons.

Bell logged a 1.27 earned run average (ERA) inside the pitcher's circle, and recorded 147 strikeouts in 1211/3 innings of work.

The Golden Falcons won 21 games and reached the second round of the NCHSAA playoffs.

Earning all-ECC recognition along with Bell were teammates Meredith Burroughs, Rachel Jordan, Ashley Shingleton and Connor Davis.

***

The top-seeded player for Aycock on the men's tennis scene, sophomore Will Hoff collected the ECC player-of-the-year award.

Hoff helped lead the Golden Falcons to an unprecedented fourth straight regular-season conference championship and second-round appearance in the NCHSAA dual-team playoffs.

Teammates Bradley Wilson, Michael Kearney and Austin Walker garnered all-ECC honors.

***

Cheyenne Warrick's emergence in women's soccer led the Golden Falcons' program to new heights this season, and picked up the ECC player-of-the-year award along the way.

A sophomore, Warrick pumped in a school single-season record 74 goals for Aycock, which posted a 12-0-0 worksheet during its ECC regular-season championship run. The Golden Falcons finished with 17 victories and lost in the opening round of the NCHSAA playoffs.

***

Undoubtedly one of the county's top golfers, Kyle Best helped Southern Wayne capture its second straight ECC championship and was named the league's player-of-the-year.

Best took medalist honors in the Wayne County Golf Championship and helped lead the Saints to the NCHSAA eastern regionals for the second consecutive season.