Weddington drops C.B. Aycock in series opener
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on June 2, 2012 11:35 PM
ZEBULON -- Charles B. Aycock's seventh inning rally came up a few feet short.
The Golden Falcons tallied three runs in their last at-bat but it was not enough to overcome Weddington in a 5-3 defeat in the opening game of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A state baseball championship series on Friday night at Five County Stadium.
For much of the game it appeared as if the Warriors were going to shut out the Golden Falcons much the way Eastern Alamance did in the East Regional finals eight days earlier.
"It was kind of like deja vu," C.B. Aycock head coach Charles Davis said. "We got to the sixth inning and we didn't have a hit yet and it definitely crossed my mind."
The Golden Falcons dug a deep hole early in the game as errors led to unearned runs.
Wedding took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when a pair of errors and a double off the bat of Chris Simpson plated a pair. Charles B. Aycock compounded the problem in the fourth frame with another error that extended an inning. Sean Collins followed the miscue with a triple and Connor Newton delivered a single that made the game 5-0.
"We just did not make the plays that it takes to win a game in the state finals," Davis said. "We cut out two of those errors and they only get two runs total instead of five."
The Golden Falcons were held without a hit until the sixth inning when Adam Pate led off with a single. A pair of walks loaded the bases but Weddington starter Alex Bostic was able to induce a pair of pop-ups to end the threat.
C.B. Aycock stormed back in the seventh inning.
Logan Brown led off the frame with a base hit and was moved to third when Tim Naughton and Bobby Hampton each drew a free pass. Following a strikeout, Blake Sutton plated two runs with a double. Cameron Taylor walked to load the bases and Collin Dubose delievered a sacrifice fly that made the score 5-3.
Justin Barbour belted an offering from Weddington relief pitcher David Pope deep into left field, but watched as Simpson ran the ball down just shy of the warning track to end the game.
"We did some really good things in that seventh inning," Davis said. "If Justin's ball goes about five more feet I think it might have dropped and tied the ballgame. Hopefully that at-bat will give our guys confidence heading into the games tomorrow."
Bostic picked up the win on the pitcher's mound. The left-hander improved to 11-0 on the season despite control problems that led to eight walks over six innings of work. Pope recorded the save.
Dubose took the loss for the Golden Falcons despite allowing just two earned runs over four innings. Ryan Grant pitched two clean innings of relief in the defeat.
"Ryan Grant has done a heck of a job for us in the playoffs by eating up some innings," Davis said. "We didn't need to dig ourselves a deeper hole in the pitching rotation and Ryan came through and held it together. That may very well matter tomorrow."