CBA offense explodes in 7th inning

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on April 10, 2013 1:47 PM

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LaGRANGE -- A close game turned into a rout in a matter of minutes.

Charles B. Aycock scored 12 runs in the top of the seventh inning and got away from North Lenoir 14-2 in an Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference clash on Tuesday night.

"It has been a while since we have come to North Lenoir and got a win," C.B. Aycock head coach Charles Davis said. "We missed some scoring chances early in the game, but once we started hitting it became contagious."

The Golden Falcons took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning.

North Lenoir got a double from Seth Beard to lead off the at-bat. Dylan Puchalski put down a sacrifice bunt and Caleb Baird tied the game 2-2 with a single.

That is when everything went wrong for the Hawks.

Logan Brown led off Aycock's seventh inning with single. An error allowed Hank Smitherman to reach base and Garrett Joyner sacrificed the runners into scoring position. Bobby Hampton drew a walk to load the bases and Adam Pate was hit by a pitch to force in the go-ahead run.

Noah West walked to bring in another run and make the score 4-2.

Jacob Naughton put the game away when he belted a fastball over the left-field fence for a grand slam. The hit parade continued for C.B. Aycock (12-5 overall, 6-2 ECC) and when the dust settled the Golden Falcons held a 14-2 lead.

C.B. Aycock sent 17 batters to the plate in the final inning. North Lenoir pitchers needed 60 pitches to record three outs.

"Logan (Brown) got a big hit to lead off the inning," Davis said. "Naughton hit a shot and we had a lot of really good at-bats up and down the lineup."

Pate worked six innings to earn the win on the pitcher's mound. Pate allowed five hits, two runs and struck out four North Lenoir batters. Ryan Grant pitched one inning of scoreless relief.

"Adam gave us a good start and kept us in the game," Davis said. "This time of year you need to beat the teams behind you in the conference standings to stay in the race and tonight we did that."

Luke Jackson took the loss for the Hawks.

North Lenoir (3-10 overall, 2-6 ECC) visits Spring Creek today, while C.B. Aycock (12-5, 6-2) is the guest of Greene Central.