Opportunistic Wayne County Post 11 rolls past Kinston

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on June 17, 2014 1:51 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

KINSTON -- Opportunistic from its first at-bat, Wayne County Post 11 easily turned back an old nemesis on Monday evening.

And stayed tied atop the Area I East Division standings with Pitt County.

Garrett Joyner, Ryan Faucette and Hank Smitherman combined for six hits and four RBI during Wayne County's 10-4 triumph over Kinston Post 43 at Viking Field.

"(I'm pleased) we got a conference win ... played pretty good with some sound defense and had some good at-bats offensively," Post 11 head coach Jason Sherrer said.

Post 11's recipe for success included eight hits, nine walks, two hit batters and three wild pitches. All those factors contributed to an eight-run advantage through five innings as Kinston's pitching staff labored to find the strike zone.

Post 43 used five hurlers on the night and just two -- Will Deters and Ben Brann -- managed to keep Wayne County (5-3-1 overall, 4-1 East) off the board during their respective one-inning stint. Kinston permitted eight earned runs and dropped its second straight Area I East outing.

Joyner notched the game's first run on a wild pitch and added an RBI single in the second inning. Zack Smith provided an RBI sacrifice fly in the first, while DJ Graham connected on a third-inning, two-RBI double.

Smith's stolen base drew a throw from the catcher, which allowed Kevin Williams to cross the plate in the fourth. Williams logged a bases-loaded RBI walk in the fifth and Faucette delivered a two-RBI single later in the same inning.

Noah West scored Post 11's final run on Smitherman's RBI single in the sixth. Wayne County batted 6 for 18 with runners in scoring position.

"(Still) there were a bunch of times where we struck out in a situation where all we had to do was have a productive out," Sherrer said. "When you play good teams in the conference and going into the playoffs, those are things you've got to do in order to keep winning."

Greg Johnson claimed his third win on the bump this season. The left-hander yielded two runs (one earned) on six hits and recorded four strikeouts in a five-inning stint.

Coy Barnett tossed three innings of five-strikeout relief. Jacob Hollingsworth threw the ninth.