Warriors turn in best hitting performance of season

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on March 29, 2014 11:24 PM

• Print
• Email

aetzler@newsargus.com

Coming off of two disappointing offensive efforts, Eastern Wayne put on its best performance of the season in an 11-3 victory over archrival Charles B. Aycock on Friday evening.

Led by Zach Smith's three-hit effort, the Warriors erupted for 13 total hits off of three Golden Falcon pitchers. Smith matched his hit total for the season, and added two RBI.

"It felt good," Smith said. "I just focused on see ball, hit ball and it worked out today."

Ryan Faucette and C.B. Aycock's starting pitcher, Noah West, cruised through the first two innings on the mound. But West ran into trouble in the third when the Warriors bats finally came to life.

Ryan Kelly led off the inning with a single, and after a sacrifice bunt and strikeout, it looked like the Warriors might squander yet another scoring chance.

Smith wouldn't let that happen. He singled down the right-field line and started a string of four consecutive hits for the Warriors, who grabbed a 4-0 lead. Kelly led off again in the fourth inning with a single that led to three more runs.

The Warriors' offensive night nearly overshadowed a gutty performance from Faucette, who went the full seven innings just one week after throwing 127 pitches against Rose. Faucette couldn't raise his arm for two days after that game.

"Ryan was a horse tonight," Wells said. "He knows he's our ace and he's our best chance to win. He kept the ball down and pitched well."

Faucette kept the ball down in the zone for the most part against Aycock, which did hit three balls off of the fence. But he also got several groundouts and flyouts with his "go-to" pitch -- a curveball -- and a pitch he doesn't quite have command of yet.

"That's the best my change-up has been," Faucette said. "I usually try to push it or frame it, but tonight I was just letting it fly. After tonight (Eastern Wayne) Coach (Jabo Fulghum) might call it a little bit more, because it was working."

Aycock (5-6 overall) collected just six hits in the Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference contest. Garrett Joyner had a double and scored a run, while Charlie Robertson added an RBI double. They dropped to 5-6 and 3-3 in the conference.

Eastern Wayne (5-6, 2-3 ECC) won back-to-back games for the first time this season and play at home Tuesday against Southern Wayne.