C.B. Aycock at Lee Senior -- East 3A finals (G2)

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 29, 2015 1:50 PM

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SANFORD -- Hitless in his previous two plate appearances, Cameron Kornegay -- honestly -- just wanted to start a seventh-inning rally.

The Charles B. Aycock junior did the unthinkable, instead.

With one smooth swing, Kornegay mashed a first-pitch fastball over the center-field fence. The yard-clearing shot capped the Golden Falcons' come-from-behind, 3-2 victory and completed a two-game sweep of Lee Senior in their N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A eastern regional championship series Thursday evening.

"Coach (Steve) Brooks told me before I went up there to 'just believe in yourself and stay smooth', and I knew if he gave me a fastball, I just needed to do something with it," Kornegay said.

"I was actually looking for a single. It just kind of worked out for the best."

Indeed.

Kornegay's second homer of the season put Aycock (23-4 overall) into the state finals for the second time in the last four years. The Golden Falcons oppose Marvin Ridge (27-5) for a three-game series at an undetermined site.

For three innings, Lee Senior tried to turn Aycock's 13-game win streak into an unlucky omen. The Yellow Jackets seized a 2-0 lead and right-hander Alston Scott forced the Golden Falcons to show some impatience at the plate.

Tyler Toro's two-out, bases-loaded single put Lee Senior in front 1-0 in the bottom half of the first. An infield error and wild pitch set the table for Drayton Lamb's two-out RBI single in the third.

Scott (8-2) threw just 26 pitches during that stretch. He induced four groundouts, three fly balls, an infield line drive and posted one strikeout.

"The first couple of innings we came out here and didn't have the intensity we usually have," Kornegay said. "(CBA head) Coach (Charles) Davis told us in the fifth inning 'they're not going to lay down for us just because you're up one game.'

"He said we needed to pick it up and compete the last two innings."

The comeback actually started before Davis' short talk.

With two runners aboard, designated hitter Chandler Matthews (3-for-3) stroked a run-scoring single up the middle in the fourth inning.

"Again, a sophomore who is just a freaking competitor, I'm telling you," Davis said of Matthews. "He's just a competitor and you can't teach that. Those situations aren't new for him."

The Yellow Jackets' defense conceded the game-tying run on Ashton McGee's RBI groundout in the fifth. Lee County loaded the bases in the bottom half of the fifth, but the threat ended when right-hander Jacob Naughton caught pinch-hitter Tyler Holder looking at a called third strike.

Aycock left two runners stranded in the sixth and Naughton retired the Yellow Jackets (17-10) in order.

That brought Kornegay to the plate.

Alston delivered his offering and the Golden Falcons roared their approval as Kornegay's bomb dropped just behind the 380-yard marker in center field.

"Cam has been a very good team player all year and we love him in the dugout, so I think all throughout the course of the year, all the hard work he's been putting in is for that moment right there," CBA senior Hank Smitherman said.

Lee Senior staged its own comeback attempt in the seventh. The first two batters reached base, but Naughton struck out Lamb and induced a fielder's choice groundout to McGee at third.

He sealed the outcome with his 11th strikeout of the game.

"That's what you practice for and that's what you work so hard for all year, so when you get in that situation, I feel like I belong there ... don't feel pressure," said Naughton, who threw 105 pitches -- 79 for strikes.

"It was the heart of the order, but I wouldn't want it any other way. If I want to win the last inning, I want to beat their best with no excuses."

Aycock and Lee Senior combined to leave 18 runners aboard and bat a collective 5 for 23 with men in scoring position. Three of the game's five runs were earned.

"By no means did we go up there (to the plate) and set it on fire," Davis said. "Had Lee County executed a couple of times, it might have been a different story. I told our kids when you execute and do the small things, you put yourself in position to win."

And play for a state title.