Wayne Christian baseball

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on May 8, 2015 1:48 PM

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His jersey unbuttoned and barely any sweat visible on his forehead, Wayne Christian hurler Ted Suggs didn't look like someone who had just pitched four innings.

But he did - in masterful fashion.

With a delivery as smooth as a slick used car salesman, Suggs mixed his pitches well and dominated Kerr-Vance's batters with a wicked slider that produced four strikeouts. The right-hander yielded three hits as the Eagles pounded out a 16-1, mercy-rule win in quarterfinal-round action of the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A baseball playoffs Thursday afternoon.

Suggs reaped the rewards of two extra days of rest since Wayne Christian (13-6 overall) won the Carolina Christian Conference's automatic bid and drew an opening-round bye due to its strength of schedule.

"It kept my arm from being tight and it felt more loose. With more rest, you should get better results," Suggs said. "We knew that their lead-off batter (Dustin Smith) would pull the ball down the line, so I had to keep the ball outside on him.

"Their catcher (Lane Humphries) and their shortstop (Daniel Wilkerson) had a good bat, so I just had to hit the spots, try not to throw too many (pitches) down the middle."

Suggs hardly threw any pitches - 50 to be exact - as Wayne Christian punched its ticket to the final four for the first time since 2010.

The Spartans (10-5) had just five runners to reach base and their scored their lone unearned run in the second inning. Holden Foster threw the fifth and retired KVA in order after giving up a lead-off walk.

"(The rest) helped the whole team, everybody came in more focused ... a little more calm," Suggs said. "We worked together and actually had our head in the game today."

Tied at 1-1 through 1 1/2 innings, Suggs' teammates provided a big cushion with a seven-run explosion. Hunter Burt's two-RBI single and Austin Howell's two-RBI double helped ignite the rally. Burt and Tanner Rose, who executed a perfect hit-and-run that led to an RBI, also pulled off a double steal that enabled Burt to score.

Wayne Christian led 8-1.

"The good thing (today) is they had plate discipline, they weren't pulling their head out, they were keeping their nose on the ball and swinging at good pitches ... very selective, waited to where the ball was pitched to where they could hit it," said Eagles head coach Curt Hinton, whose team batted 7 for 14 with runners in scoring position.

Overall, eight of nine WCS starters had at least one hit on the day. Rose finished 3-for-3 with two RBI. Burt (three RBI) and Howell (two RBI) provided two hits apiece.

Foster, Suggs, Tyler Mozingo (RBI), Jaxon Anderson (two RBI) and Trey Hinton each contributed one hit.

The Eagles set two postseason records - most runs in a game (16) and largest margin of victory (15 runs).