Post 11 dominates Pitt County

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on June 23, 2012 11:06 PM

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DUDLEY -- This is more like it.

Opportunistic from its opening at-bat, Wayne County Post 11 capitalized on its opponent's graciousness and rolled to a 10-0, mercy-rule decision over Pitt County Post 39 on Friday evening.

Right-handers Jeremy Taylor and Zack Mozingo combined for a four-hitter in the seven-inning affair. Taylor scattered four hits, walked four and struck out three in six innings. Mozingo tossed a perfect seventh that included two strikeouts.

"We just told the guys (in post-game) that's what we expect out of them every time we come out here," Post 11 assistant coach Jackson Massey said. "The pitching did well, the defense was clean. We had really good at-bats and we were there (mentally) the entire ballgame.

"We've been focusing on staying in it inning by inning, and they did a great job all around tonight."

Pitt County obliged its host with five errors, four hit batsmen, four wild pitches and a bevy of mental mistakes. The defensive bobbles, including three in the outfield, led to four unearned runs.

Wayne County (5-4 overall, 2-1 South Division) plated eight runs during the first three innings against Post 39 right-hander Zach Holton. Holton compounded his troubles as he drilled three Post 11 batters and issued four free passes.

Post 11 first baseman Zack Mozingo batted 3-for-3 with three RBI during that stretch and took extra bases when Post 39 outfielders let balls squirt underneath their gloves. Jamie Dove provided an RBI hit and lead-off batter Cameron Taylor laced a two-strike, two-RBI backside single in the third inning.

"When we got on them early, that let us take a deep breath and realize that this is how we're supposed to go about things," Massey said. "It helped the whole team relax. I think it carried over into our ABs and when we were out there on defense."

Wayne County finished with five hits and didn't commit a defensive error for the first time this season.

Nine Post 39 runners reached against Taylor, who earned his third decision in five mound appearances. The Guilford Tech signee forced Pitt County to strand five runners in scoring position and tagged out another batter to end the fourth inning.

Austin Chiang led Post 39 with two hits.

"They have a good team year in and out," Massey said. "Jeremy hit his spots in and out well. He could throw his breaking ball when we needed it and the main thing is he was getting ahead of most of the batters.

"He didn't try to do too much and we made a ton of plays behind him. He and Zack did a great job."