Eastern Wayne brings sticks to ballpark against SW Guilford

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on April 9, 2015 1:48 PM

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By RUDY COGGINS

rcoggins@newsargus.com

WILSON -- No-hit a day earlier, Eastern Wayne spent Tuesday morning in the batting cage and took a quick refresher course in plate approaches.

It paid off.

Lee Daniels emerged as one of three Warriors to record a multi-hit performance during an 11-1 white-washing of Southwest Guilford during the final day of the second annual Golden Leaf Invitational. Daniels earned a nod on the all-Invitational team along with Tanner Wells and Zack Smith.

"Coach just wanted us to have a good mentality at the plate," said Daniels, who batted 3-for-4 with two RBI and scored four runs. "(Monday) we didn't have great at-bats. We just wanted to come out today and have good at-bats.

"I wanted to have good at-bats, hit it hard. (Then) we all strung together a few hits."

Eastern Wayne (9-3 overall) cranked out 11 hits against three different Southwest pitchers. Smith tripled in a 2-for-4, two-RBI outing. Brock Johnson batted 2-for-4 with two hits in the No. 7 hole.

Coy Barnett supplied an RBI double.

Tanner Wells returned to the lineup and delivered a first-inning RBI single. The left-hander also earned the mound win with a four-hit, seven-strikeout stint that lasted five innings.

Barnett threw the sixth and seventh.

"I came out a little bit shaky, the (lead-off) guy got a good hit off of me," Wells said. "I settled down towards the end. I talked with my coach and the biggest thing was he told me to work ahead and throw strikes. I did the best I could to get in the strike zone."

Wells (2-0) worked each corner and limited the Cowboys to a first-inning run that resulted from a wild pitch. He picked off a courtesy runner at first base in the second inning and benefited from a rally-killing double play in the fifth.

Wells retired six of the final seven batters he faced.