Post 11 squanders scoring opportunities against Pitt County

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on June 5, 2014 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

WINTERVILLE -- Wayne County Post 11 let an old nemesis wiggle off the hook at Minges-Overton Field on a humid Wednesday evening.

Pitt County Post 39 shortstop Ryan Maness delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning, capping a come-from-behind, 7-6 victory in Area I East Division play.

While the loss disappointed third-year Post 11 head coach Jason Sherrer, he appeared more upset over his team's mental attitude in the batter's box in the latter stages of the 3-hour, 15-minute affair.

Wayne County stranded the go-ahead run on base on four occasions during the final five innings, and batted a miserable 4 for 20 with men in scoring position.

"We had plenty of hits, we just didn't get the team at-bat," said Sherrer, whose team left 13 total runners on board during the game.

"We didn't have very many team at-bats. I thought we were selfish at the plate with our approach, swinging at pitches we shouldn't (and) taking pitches we should hit. We got out of our gameplan late after we scored five (runs) in the second."

Pitt County, the two-time defending Area I East champ, seized a 2-0 lead after one inning. Post 11 responded with a five-run outburst that included bases-loaded RBI walks from Hank Smitherman and Garrett Joyner (2-for-4), and a two-RBI single from Kevin Williams.

Chad Spurgeon provided an RBI single to make it 5-2.

But Wayne County, which saw five Post 39 pitchers on the night, went into cruise mode until it scratched for a single run in the sixth.

Post 11 put four runners aboard in the third through fifth innings and walked off the diamond empty handed each time. A double play wiped out one scoring threat in the third and a pickoff at first base squelched a fifth-inning opportunity.

Post 39 closed to within 5-4 in the fifth on Bailey Sugg's RBI triple and Kyle Cross' RBI groundout. Wayne County pushed its advantage to 6-4 on Ryan Faucette's RBI base knock in the sixth, but Faucette was out moments later when the ball hit him on a fielder's choice grounder to shortstop.

"That's a bad play, shouldn't have happened for sure," Sherrer said. "Another game-changer ... take ourselves out of the inning by giving away outs when we're limited to just so many."

Pitt County (2-1 overall, 2-1 Area I East) tied the game at 6-6 in the seventh on Jehniel House's single. A botched pickoff attempt moved House into scoring position at third, and he trotted home on Aaron Clark's sacrifice fly to right field.

Each team missed chances to end the game in regulation.

Wayne County (2-3-1, 1-1) stranded a runner at third with one out in the eighth, and left a runner at second with two outs in the ninth.

Post 39 loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth and West rebounded with three straight strikeouts. Post 11 left another runner stranded at second in the 10th, but West couldn't avoid trouble this time.

The right-handed reliever surrendered a lead-off double to Drew Piscorik and walked Frankie Williamson. Maness failed to square up on two bunts and with the right side of the field drawn in, he poked a game-ending single into shallow right field.

Wayne County owned a 12-9 advantage in total hits.

Post 11 right-hander Jackson Hayes started and earned a no-decision in a six-inning stint that included six strikeouts. The Southern Wayne senior retired 9 of 11 batters during a three-inning stretch after falling behind 2-0 on the scoreboard.