EW's Barnett flirts with no-hitter
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on April 11, 2012 1:48 PM
WINTERVILLE -- Hunter Barnett is continuing to provide Eastern Wayne the pitching depth it is going to need if it hopes to win an Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference championship this season.
Barnett pitched a complete game and the Warriors defeated West Carteret 6-1 on Tuesday morning in the Pitt County Classic at South Central High School.
Barnett (4-2) took a no-hitter into the fourth inning and surrendered one earned run on seven hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
"Barnett stayed ahead most of the day," Warriors' head coach Jabo Fulghum said. "His off-speed stuff was there. He was working ahead and getting his fastball and breaking ball for strikes early in the count."
Zack Mozingo reached on a fielder's choice and later scored on an error to give Eastern Wayne a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Warriors' second baseman Wesley Stewart led off the top of the second inning with a double to right field. Stewart raced home on a double steal as the lead grew to 2-0.
Ryan Faucette's three-run double in the top of the fourth inning increased the margin to 5-0. Mozingo tacked on an RBI groundout.
"We had some timely hits," Fulghum said. "I'm proud of our kids for coming over here and playing hard and playing together as a team."
Barnett retired the first 10 Patriots' batters he faced. Kris Lindner broke up Barnett's no-hit bid with a single to left field with one out in the top of the fourth inning. Trent Carpenter's RBI single pulled West Carteret to within 6-1.
Barnett led Eastern Wayne (11-4 overall) with two hits and was joined on the All-Classic team by Mozingo.
The Warriors travel to ECC foe Cleveland on April 17.