Carlyle Smith's walk-off double lifts Warriors past Saints

By Brandon Davis
Published in Sports on April 10, 2016 1:47 AM

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bdavis@newsargus.com

Eastern Wayne junior Carlyle Smith stood at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning -- the bases loaded, his team down by two runs and two strikes on the board.

"I felt great. My coach (Jabo Fulghum) told me to just relax because I was tense and hit the ball," Smith said after he knocked a walk-off double off the wall in center field to lift the Warriors past county rival Southern Wayne, 10-9, on Friday evening.

"I just did what he (Fulghum) told me to."

The Warriors took off early with a home run from senior Zack Smith on the first hit of the game. Eastern Wayne led 6-0 through three innings in the Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference game.

But Southern Wayne put in relief pitcher Josh Jernigan, who shut down the Warriors' offense in the fourth inning with three consecutive outs.

Eastern Wayne senior Brock Johnson pitched for five innings and had nine strikeouts, but he allowed two runs by the Saints in the top of the fifth. Zack Smith stood on the mound at the top of the sixth, only to allow five more runs from Southern Wayne.

The Saints led the Warriors 7-6.

Fear ran rapid over Eastern Wayne fans.

Southern Wayne fans began to smile. Those smiles didn't last long when EW senior KK Best stole home to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth.

The Saints ruined the party with two runs from sophomore Jack Casbarro and senior Carter Jones off of a hit to left field from Jernigan.

Zack Smith walked home to trail the Saints by one run, 9-8, in the bottom of the seventh. Carlyle Smith walked to the batter's box with Best on third, Tanner Wells on second and Ryan Warren on first.

Smith delivered and pushed Eastern Wayne to its fourth conference win of the season. Smith finished 2-for-5 with two RBI. Zack Smith went 4-for-5. Collin Nix had two hits and two RBI.

"Defensively, we didn't play well. That's why they (Saints) came back," Fulghum said. "But on the bright side, in baseball, you're not always going to win and it be easy. You're going to have to come back and win sometime.

"I'm proud of our kids for having some fight in us. End of the ball game, and showing some character at the end."

Jernigan (two RBI) and Tyler Brock (RBI) each had one hit for the Saints.

"I told them I was proud of them," Southern Wayne head coach Jackson Massey said. "They fought hard, and we were flat the first two or three innings. I think we were a little shell shocked when they (Warriors) had that big first inning and led the game off with a home run.

"I love how we responded. I wish it could have been a little bit earlier. But as far as the overall effort for innings one through seven, I couldn't be more proud of the guys."

The Saints (5-11 overall, 0-6 ECC) entertain New Bern next Friday, while the Warriors (11-3, 4-1) are the guests of county archrival C.B. Aycock on Tuesday.