C.B. Aycock pulls off eight-inning, season-opening win
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on February 29, 2012 1:48 PM
PIKEVILLE -- A costly error at a critical time led to a comeback victory for Charles B. Aycock in its regular-season baseball opener against Wilson Hunt on Tuesday night.
The Golden Falcons prevailed 6-5 in eight innings.
"I'm always happy with the win no matter how we ended up getting it," C.B. Aycock head coach Charles Davis said. "Last year we went to Hunt and lost the opener 2-1 in eight innings so maybe this is some weird kind of makeup for that."
The Golden Falcons trailed 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh and were down to their last out when Adam Pate lined a ball to right field. The ball hit off the Hunt defender's glove and rolled into the corner. Pate advanced to third base on the error.
Cameron Taylor followed with an RBI single ahead of a walk to Collin Dubose. Bryant Stafford tied the game at 5-5 with a two-run double.
"That error was big because it was in a spot where the top of our order was coming up," Davis said. "All you want to do after something like that is give yourself a chance to win the game, and we put the ball in play and made the most of it."
C.B. Aycock won the game in the eighth inning.
Rider Gardner drew a one-out walk and advanced when Bobby Hampton also drew a free pass. Pate was walked intentionally and Taylor ended the game with an RBI single.
Taylor finished with two hits and two RBI. Pate tallied two hits including a solo home run in the bottom of the first. Stafford added two hits and two RBI in four at-bats. Justin Barbour had two hits including a double.
DuBose earned the win on the pitcher's mound by pitching a scoreless eighth inning.
"I thought our pitching was pretty good all night," Davis said. "Stafford was good for three innings, Pate gave us a couple solid innings and Ryan Grant and Collin DuBose were both excellent in relief."
C.B. Aycock (1-0 overall) travels to Rosewood on Thursday.