Golden Falcons' offensive train rolls through Dudley

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on March 20, 2016 1:47 AM

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jhayes@newsargus.com

DUDLEY -- Have you seen the Pikeville Express?

It's a public school milk box on old-fangled tires - base white and striped in azure - that carries a varsity roster of 14 dugout-screaming, high-octane hitting, laser-throwing ponytails from Charles B. Aycock High School.

But if you've missed it, there is good reason. It simply doesn't stay in one place very long.

The Golden Falcons (7-0 overall) proved why on Friday night, exploding for 10 first-inning runs en route to a 17-1 conquest of county rival Southern Wayne at the famed Doyle Whitfield Athletic Complex.

It was the Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference opener for Aycock, which registered its third mercy-rule victory of the season.

Tanika Powell began the affair in singular fashion, chopping a single to right field off Saints' starter Kelsey Hayes. After stealing second and third with no challenge, the junior crossed home plate on an RBI double by Cassandra Lassiter.

The route was on.

Aycock batted around the lineup, staging quality at-bats and hammering Saints' pitching with aplomb. Madison Walton, Hannah Vinson and senior Abbie Walton all contributed to a six-hit, eight-RBI effort in their half of the first inning.

"That's the fastest start we've had this year," said head coach Lavon Matthews, "and that's what I've tried to instill... (it seems like) we've been waiting until the third or fourth inning to score."

By that point, a number of Aycock starters had been retired.

Southern Wayne (3-5, 1-1 ECC), however, continued fighting.

The Saints battled Aycock pitchers Taylor Waddell and Allie Phillips deep into strike counts, and rejoiced in unison when freshman Rebecca Coor rode a Waddell offering over the right center-field fence in the fourth inning.

The solo blast was one of only three Saints' hits on the evening.

"They've (Aycock) been consistently good forever," first-year Saints head coach James Edmundson said. "As long as I can go back and find scorebooks... that's the kind of team we want to become."

"We gave them a lot of momentum early -- they didn't earn ten runs (in the first), I can tell you that."

Despite its working margin, Aycock kept the throttle down. Behind solid platework from Georgia Parnell and Mackenzie Wheeler, the Golden Falcons scored two runs in the third, one in the fourth and four during their half of the fifth inning before to heading to the bus.

Perhaps their play was influenced by their upcoming schedule.

On Tuesday of next week, the Golden Falcons visit D.H. Conley, the state's top ranked Class 4-A team -- a fact not lost on anyone in Pikeville.

"They're (Conley) disciplined," Matthews said of the challenge, "(and) you can't give them runs or make errors, because they take advantage of every mistake you make."

Southern plays host to J.H. Rose the same day at 6:30 p.m.