Errors haunt Eastern Wayne in loss to Fike

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on May 14, 2015 1:46 PM

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cellis@newsargus.com

WILSON -- It looked like it was going to be Eastern Wayne's night.

Down 2-1 in the top of the seventh with a runner on base and two outs, Tanner Wells stepped to the plate.

After working to a 3-2 count, the sophomore left fielder drove a fastball deep to center field, tying the game with an RBI double. The subdued Warriors' dugout exploded back to life, and it looked like the Eastern Wayne team that had backed into the postseason was back to their winning ways.

Baseball can be a cruel game, though.

Two innings later, in the bottom of the ninth inning, Fike's Brandon Winstead hit a fly ball to center. Warriors' center fielder Andrew McKeel dropped the ball, Fike scored and won 3-2 in first-round play of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A baseball playoffs.

"Yeah, I just thought that we were going to catch a break there," Eastern Wayne head coach Jabo Fulghum said, talking about Wells' game-tying double. "Because we definitely hadn't helped ourselves."

The Warriors' defense once again did itself in with four errors. Fike scored an unearned run and the other two came off the heels of defensive miscues.

"The last four, we have not played good defense at all," Fulghum said. "That's why we've lost the last four games. Just plain and simple.

"We didn't play sound defense. You give a good team like Fike four or five outs an inning, you're not going to win."

The game was a pitcher's duel throughout.

The Warriors sent ace Zack Smith to the mound, and he gave them an ace performance. Smith went eight innings, allowing two runs (one earned) while striking out seven and walking two. Tanner Wells came on in relief in the bottom of the ninth and was charged with the loss.

The Demons countered with Brandon Winstead. The junior allowed only two runs on six hits, struck out 12 and didn't allow a walk.

"I'll give Winstead credit, he battled," Fulghum said. "When he had cramps at the end, I thought he was probably wasn't going to be able to finish, but he finished. He pitched well."

The Warriors took the loss about as hard as one would expect a team that tied the score on the game's last strike only to lose to do. McKeel was especially tough on himself. In the post-game huddle, Fulghum kept the message sort and sweet.

"(I told them) I'm proud to be a Warrior," he said. "It's just that simple. It hurts. Not much more you can say besides the fact that I'm proud of them. These kids battled their tail off all year long and we had an extremely good year. Very unfortunate at the end, but we have a lot of guys coming back."