Aycock-South

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on June 23, 2011 1:47 PM

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DUDLEY -- It took nearly 22 hours, but Charles B. Aycock finished off what head coach Nelson Cunningham called, "the first huge win of the season."

Aycock benefited from four Wayne South errors and hung on for a 4-3 Junior American Legion victory on Wednesday afternoon. The game was suspended on Tuesday evening due to lightning in the area after the two teams played 41/2 innings and sat through a one-hour delay.

Jacob Hollingsworth's RBI single in the bottom of the second inning put the Saints in front 1-0. Justin Barbour's RBI double and Greg Johnson's RBI single in the top of the fourth inning gave Aycock a 2-1 advantage.

Wayne South committed three costly errors in the top of the fifth inning.

Barbour's two-run, two-out double increased Aycock's lead to 4-1. Barbour finished with two hits and three RBI.

"That was a big hit," said Cunningham. "The huge thing was it with two outs. Right now we're starting to play a little better and starting to find our identity a little bit. We're starting to grow up a little bit."

South rallied as the game resumed Wednesday afternoon.

Chris Reedy's RBI double in the home half of the fifth inning pulled Wayne South to within 4-2. Jacob Sasser's solo home run to center field in the bottom of the sixth inning cut the margin to 4-3.

South threatened with the tying run on base and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Aycock reliever Bryant Stafford retired Colton Chrisman to end the ballgame.

Johnson surrendered one unearned run on one hit with two strikeouts and three walks in four innings to earn the win on the mound. Ryan Grant tossed two innings of relief. Stafford worked a scoreless seventh to pick up the save.

"I don't know how often you start a game back up leading 4-1 at three-thirty in the afternoon," said Cunningham. "I think as a coach, going into the bottom of the fifth inning, you would probably give anything to be up 4-1.

"They came out and had some good hits. We hung in there and never broke down, and Stafford came in there and filled up (the strike zone) the last inning."

Wayne South starting pitcher Jackson Hayes allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits, struck out two Aycock batters, walked two and endured the loss in five innings of work.

"We made some errors last night but there's nothing you can do about it but just play," said South head coach T.J. Hinson. "We've got a lot of injuries and some guys that are down right now. We're working hard to get through that and working hard to get better every day."

Adam Pate and Johnson (RBI) both had two hits for the Golden Falcons.

Hollingsworth led Wayne South with a pair of hits.

Wayne South (9-5 overall) is the guest of Spring Creek today, while Aycock (12-5) plays host to defending state champion West Johnston. First pitch for each game is 6 p.m.