GOLDEN LEAF INVITATIONAL: Warriors get solid outing from Johnson

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 29, 2016 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

WILSON -- Penciled into the lineup for the first time this season, football standout Devonte Corum drew praise from Eastern Wayne head baseball coach Jabo Fulghum.

Corum squared up and hit two hard grounders -- one to third and another that resulted in a rare 5-3-5 inning-ending double play. Although Corum concluded the day 0-for-3 at the plate, Fulghum applauded his aggressiveness at the plate.

"I was impressed with Devonte ... first at-bats all year long," Fulghum said. "He hits the ball hard, one should have been an RBI. Maybe some of us can see him hit a little bit ... that's how you've got to play. You've got to put pressure on the defense by hitting it hard.

"Lazy fly balls, anybody can catch. You've got to hit hard ground balls and hard line drives."

Lack of hitting seems to be the critical piece of the puzzle -- at this point -- that could ultimately define the Warriors' season. They pieced together a 5-1 victory over West Carteret on the middle day of the third annual Golden Leaf Invitational contested at venerable Fleming Stadium on Monday afternoon.

Eastern Wayne (8-3 overall) collected just six hits and batted 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Six were stranded at either second or third base. A seventh batter was forced out at third.

"We're got to be more aggressive at the plate sometimes," Fulghum said. "I keep telling them we've got to put more pressure (on the defense)."

West Carteret offered a little first-inning assistance.

Christian Garner labored to find the strike zone and walked four batters. He issued a bases-loaded RBI walk to Ryan Warren and surrendered a two-RBI single to Michael Wiggins. Carlyle Smith added a sacrifice fly to left field.

The Warriors led 4-0.

"Wiggins gets a big hit," Fulghum said. ""We were patient at the plate at the beginning."

But over the next five innings, the Warriors' offensive intensity wavered as Garner and side-winding reliever Gage Wheeler allowed runners to reach base in five consecutive innings. EW left five of men aboard. Courtesy runner KK Best sped home on Zack Smith's RBI laser shot to right field in the fourth inning.

The five-run cushion was more than enough for right-hander Brock Johnson, who earned the complete-game win in his fourth start of the season. He pounded the strike zone all afternoon, surrendered just five hits, one walk and sent five Patriots back to the dugout on strikeouts.

West Carteret (7-6) avoided the shutout with a fifth-inning run. Johnson coaxed the Patriots into an inning-ending DP in the fifth and eventually retired the final seven batters he faced.

"Brock, you know, he battled, kept the ball down and gave us a chance," Fulghum said. "When you keep the ball down in the strike zone, mix it up, you've got a chance. I think Brock today kind of gave us more confidence in him on the mound."

Now if the Warriors could just hit.