Golden Falcons erase early-game deficit

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

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PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock's offense got a lift from the long with Noah West and Jacob Naughton combining for three home runs last Wednesday.

The Golden Falcons' big hits never left the infield Saturday evening.

Two infield singles and a bases-loaded walk accounted for all of CBA's runs in its 5-4 win over West Brunswick in the second round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A playoffs.

"It don't matter how you win as long as you win, you survive and advance," C.B. Aycock coach Charles Davis said.

"That's playoffs."

C.B. Aycock plays host to Southern Lee on Tuesday.

Senior Tim Naughton got the starting nod on the hill and was coming off of a disappointing outing where he walked more batters than Davis would have liked.

Naughton had better control and made just one bad pitch in the third inning. He left a fastball up in the zone that West Brunswick clean-up hitter Chandler Taylor drove into the woods behind Charles Davis Field for a two-run homer and a three-run lead.

After that, Naughton got into a better rhythm and his curveball got stronger as the game progressed. The off-speed pitch helped him keep hitters off balance.

"Coach reminded me to shorten my stride on my curveball," Naughton said. "And it just started working better and better."

Then Aycock started to grind out runs.

In the bottom of the third, the Golden Falcons responded with two runs on Ashton McGee's infield single. Garrett Joyner -- who reached on a walk -- scored easily from third. West, who doubled, scored when he caught the West Brunswick catcher out of position and swiped home.

The next time C.B. Aycock came to bat, Bobby Hampton's infield single drove in Hank Smitherman from third. An errant throw that was late to first base allowed Joyner to score the go-ahead run, giving the Golden Falcons a 4-3 lead.

Hampton took the mound in the fifth. He gave up the game-tying run after a Brett Babson double to left field was compounded by an error that allowed Zach Johnson to score from first.

Once again, Aycock responded without even hitting the outfield grass.

Charlie Robertson stepped into the batter's box -- his first plate appearance in more than a month. He plays center field when Hampton pitches and usually has a pinch-hitter himself. But this time he pinch-hit for Trent Herndon after coming into the game when Hampton moved from center to the mound.

Robertson hit a chopper that bounced just over Taylor at third base and West Brunswick shortstop Tristan Lewis couldn't make the play.

"I kinda missed it, but it got over him," Robertson said. "It did the job."

"For him to come to the plate for the first time in a month and get on in a big spot is a tribute to him," Davis said. "That was big."

Even bigger, Hampton and West reached base to load the bags for McGee with two outs. McGee looked for a pitch he could drive but saw nothing, and showed the patience to work a walk to score the game-winning run.

"He's a freshman only by class," Davis said. "He's played baseball long enough to know what to do in that situation."

"I was just looking for a pitch to hit, but I didn't get anything," McGee said. "Anything to get that run in."

That's playoff baseball.