Pitt County Classic: Aycock rallies past Alexander Central

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on April 22, 2014 1:48 PM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

GREENVILLE -- After struggling at the plate for much of the season, Charles B. Aycock first baseman Jacob Naughton had found a bit of rhythm in practice.

Head coach Charles Davis gave him a spot start to see if he could get something going. Naughton made his coach look like a genius.

Trailing 3-0 in the fourth inning, Naughton came to the plate with his brother, Tim, on first base. The Golden Falcons were hitless -- until Naughton drove a line drive over the center fielder's head.

The line-drive triple, which the center fielder misjudged, gave Aycock the break it needed en route to a 5-3 win over Alexander Central in the Pitt County Classic on Monday afternoon.

Jacob Naughton reached base three times in the game.

"Jake's been working hard in practice and today I figured I'd get him in the lineup and I finally got one right for once," Davis laughed. "But we're going to need guys like to step up in games down the stretch."

Aycock continued its season-long consistent pitching. Noah West cruised through six innings on the mound. He threw 81 pitches in the game and faced more than four batters in one inning just once in the game.

Alexander Central touched West for three hits and three runs in the second inning to take the early lead. After that, they had just one hit.

West relied on his off-speeded pitches -- he spotted his curveball and changeup on the corners to freeze the Cougars' batters and cause a mix of routine grounders and pop-ups. He also struck out five hitters.

"I was able to paint the black and keep the ball down and after the second (inning) I got my changeup and my curveball going and they had trouble hitting it," West said.

With West on top of his game, the Falcons finally provided some run support. Naughton's triple drove in one of two fourth-inning runs, and the Golden Falcons added two more in the fifth, which gave them a 4-3 lead.

Bobby Hampton hit a bouncing ball off the hard infield grass over the head of the Cougars' third baseman. West followed with a single. Ashton McGee walked to load the bases.

Tim Naughton tied the game driving in Hampton with a single to right. Jacob Naughton drew a walk to score West and give C.B. Aycock the lead for good. West drove in the final run for some insurance in the sixth inning.

C.B. Aycock (11-9 overall) faced Riverside and Powhatan (Va.) in back-to-back games on the South Central High School diamond today.