Fulghum, Burroughs homer during Aycock's 2nd mercy-rule playoff win

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on May 18, 2014 12:30 PM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

PIKEVILLE -- As Topsail pitcher Hayley Grizzle pumped a strike past Charles B. Aycock's Meredith Burroughs Friday night, her teammates huddled and around the circle and celebrated with her.

They thought it was strike three.

It was only strike two and Burroughs sent the next pitch over the center-field wall. The home run started a six-run first inning for the Golden Falcons and led to a 15-5, mercy-rule victory in the second round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A softball playoffs Friday evening.

Burroughs, the state's career home run leader, hadn't seen many pitches to hit recently. Head coach Emily Burke moved her to the lead-off spot.

"Our philosophy is our top four hitters have to see the most at-bats," Burke said. "So if they're going to walk her why not lead off the game with a walk."

But when they do pitch to Burroughs ...

"That's what happens," Burke smiled about the home run.

The Golden Falcons (17-2 overall) will entertain either Southern Nash or West Carteret on Tuesday.

Despite the 10-run victory, C. B. Aycock's found itself in unfamiliar territory. Burke's team for just the third time all season after Topsail scored two runs in the top of the first inning, and she didn't know how the girls would respond.

A defensive miscue and a few hard-hit balls gave the Pirates confidence, and heightened the energy and noise coming from their dugout that made it hard to drown out.

The Golden Falcons, instead, made some noise of their own -- from the dugout and from the bats at the plate.

"With them cheering so loud it was getting kind of annoying, so we decided we were going to cheer that loud and then our hitting helped and we got them rattled," sophomore Keely Fulghum said.

Allie Phillips started on the mound for the Golden Falcons and settled in after two shaky innings where she allowed four runs. The left-hander didn't have total control on the mound and struggled to find the strike zone at times, but made the pitches she needed to make.

Whenever Phillips found herself in trouble with a hitter, she stepped off behind the circle and took a second to gather herself before throwing the next pitch.

"I just kept telling myself 'I can do this,'" Phillips said.

She could and she did.

After Phillips pitched her first 1-2-3 inning in the third, the Golden Falcons came to the plate with a 6-4 lead and eager to add insurance runs.

The insurance came from Fulghum when she launched a grand slam over the center-field fence as part of the five-run, third-inning rally. It was one of just two hits in the inning -- the other a sacrifice bunt that Cierra Harris legged out at first base.

C.B. Aycock added four more runs in the fourth after Harris hit a two-RBI double and later scored on a wild pitch.

Then Burroughs closed the door in the fifth.