Post 11 must clean up defense to advance in playoffs

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on July 12, 2014 11:03 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

DUDLEY -- Lady Luck danced with Wayne County Post 11 during its semifinal-round, three-game sweep of Windsor Post 37.

Third-year head coach Jason Sherrer hopes the good fortune doesn't end. But if Post 11 fails to shore up a porous defense, its appearance in the Area I East championship series will end quickly.

"It's good for us to go into this next series with a couple of days off," said Sherrer, whose team committed 15 errors in 27 innings against Windsor.

"But there is no slacking, there is no let's take it easy on defense because we'll be able to hit our way out. Everybody has got some arms and everybody is playing for their lives at this point. If we don't clean up the defensive side, we're going to have a hard time with either Wilson or Pitt."

Top-seeded Wayne County (13-4-1 overall) entertains Pitt County in Game 1 of the championship series today. First pitch is 7 p.m. on the Doyle Whitfield Athletic Complex diamond.

The teams split their regular-season series, each emerging victorious on their home field.

A perennial playoff fixture, Wayne County displayed a Jekyll & Hyde mentality against Windsor. Post 11 turned a total of five double plays in the final two games, but committed 12 errors that led to numerous unearned runs.

Fifth-seeded Windsor applied pressure by putting the lead-off batter aboard in 13 of 27 innings. Nine of those runners scored much to the chagrin of Sherrer, who called upon seven different pitchers that labored at times to consistently pound the strike zone.

"The intensity that we played with against a team that did not give up like Windsor, it shows that we can't let off at any time," Sherrer said. "If we go in thinking if we score two in the first or five in the first, we're going to be safe.

"There is no safe score regardless of who you're playing."

Fortunately, Post 37 batted a paltry 9 of 41 with men in scoring position and stranded 29 runners on base during the three-game set.

Wayne County was equally as futile.

Sherrer's squad posted a .286 batting average (10 for 35) in the RISP category and left 24 men at either second or third base. Post 11 manufactured just one hit with a runner in scoring position in game three.

Post 37 compounded its trouble with nine defensive miscues -- four errors and five wild pitches in the same game.

"If they put pressure on the defense like they did the entire series, a hard ground ball is going to give you a chance (to reach base) over a fly ball any day of the week," Sherrer said.

University of Mount Olive signee Ryan Faucette remains Wayne County's top offensive player. The Eastern Wayne grad is the team leader in hits (33), RBI (22), stolen bases (14) and batting average (.452).

Lead-off batter Garrett Joyner leads the team with 26 runs scored and has 95 total plate appearances along with catcher Kevin Williams. Williams has drawn a team-best 21 walks.

Faucette, Joyner and Zack Smith have combined for all six of Wayne County's home runs, including three in the postseason.

The top five batters in the order -- Joyner, Williams, Faucette, Smith and Chad Spurgeon -- have combined for 65 of the Wayne County's 104 RBI. Smith and Logan Miller, who batted in the No. 9 spot in game three, each have four sacrifices this season.

Overall, Wayne County bats .303 as a team.

The pitching staff has compiled a 3.33 earned run average with 126 strikeouts in 154 innings of work. Greg Johnson (2.36 ERA) has five victories, while Ben Rouse (2.11 ERA) and Jackson Hayes (3.86 ERA) each have three wins.

Sherrer is aware 18 games isn't long enough for a team to barely scratch the surface of its potential. He just hopes the intensity level increases against Post 11's next opponent.

"We just have to play sound baseball on the defensive side and play to our ability offensively," Sherrer said. "Again, not chasing bad pitches early in the count, but stay within ourselves. It's going to be a tough road, but if we can keep within ourselves and play as a team like we can, we can be OK."

And keep Lady Luck from either switching dance partners or blowing on another guy's dice.