CBA-EW softball
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 7, 2015 1:51 PM
PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock junior Keeley Fulghum and freshman Hannah Vinson held on tightly to the bright yellow ball in their hand as they walked toward the parking lot Wednesday evening.
Each belted a fourth-inning two-run homer -- during a four-batter stretch -- as the Golden Falcons handed Eastern Wayne an 11-1, mercy-rule defeat. It was the regular-season finale in Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference play.
Fulghum and Vinson combined for three hits and six RBI as Aycock flexed its muscle in preparation for the postseason. Nine Golden Falcons combined for 14 hits and 10 RBI against Warrior right-handers Emily Uzzell and Trisha Bell.
"I was pleased that all of the girls contributed, they knew it was going to be a complete team effort," said CBA head coach Emily Burke, who began making substitutions in the third inning.
"We wanted to try some different things to get them prepared for the playoffs and they accepted that with open arms. We all played great and had good attitudes about everything that we tried."
Aycock (10-8 overall, 8-4 ECC) secured the league's No. 1 seed and an opening-round home game for the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A playoffs. The Association will release the pairings Saturday.
The Warriors (2-15, 2-10) anticipate getting the No. 2 seed.
Two-out rallies were the Golden Falcons' best friend during the first two innings. Madison Walton drove in Mackenzie Wheeler, who stroked a two-out double to deep left field, for the first run of the game.
In the second, Michaela Thompson drew out a two-out walk, which helped ignite a four-run uprising. Tanika Powell, Vinson and Wheeler each collected an RBI. A throwing error led to an Aycock run and a 5-0 advantage.
"No, we couldn't (get that third out) and that was that bad inning, and you know we had avoided that bad inning this season for the most part," EW head coach Jackie Lewis said. "We couldn't get past it. They hit the ball very well tonight. I think we missed our spots on the mound."
Aycock plated five runs in the fourth inning. The game ended when an inside pitch floated away from Bell and hit Fulghum on the left arm with the bases loaded.
Wheeler and fellow right-hander Allison Shingleton combined for a two-hitter inside the pitcher's circle. Wheeler had one walk and retired two Warriors on strikeouts in a three-inning stint. Shingleton benefited from a fourth-inning double play and threw a perfect fifth.
Bell and Uzzell each had a hit for the Warriors, who had just four base runners on the night.
"(Mackenzie and Allison) haven't gotten a lot of work here lately, so we wanted to make sure they got some (tonight)," said Burke, whose defense turned two double plays behind its pitchers.
"We had everybody else warming up in case we needed everybody. We learned that lesson last year (in the state finals) to have somebody warm because you never know."
Aycock has won all 28 meetings against Eastern Wayne since 2002.