Golden Falcons cruise by Cougars in 3A baseball playoffs

By Brandon Davis
Published in Sports on May 12, 2016 1:48 PM

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bdavis@newsargus.com

PIKEVILLE -- Hairstyles change.

Methods to win -- don't.

Charles B. Aycock seniors Cameron Kornegay and Chandler Gentry sported 90's-style haircuts in a 6-2 victory over South Brunswick during the first round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A baseball playoffs on Wednesday evening.

The fourth-seeded Golden Falcons stuck with head coach Charles Davis' gameplan against the 29th-seeded Cougars in a non-blowout, close-at-times matchup.

"In the game of baseball, especially a first-round game, you're going to face everybody's best," said Davis. "I've been around it long enough now to know that it don't matter where you're seeded at, who you play or whatever, everybody is trying their best to win and advance."

Kornegay blasted the ball to center field in the second inning and brought in sophomore Blake Gibson and junior Ashton McGee.

Senior Kyle Davis vacated the mound for the Golden Falcons during a six-inning span, but the starting pitcher allowed SB freshman Mason Phillips to walk to first base at the top of the second. With bases already loaded, sophomore Kris Keller walked home.

South Brunswick trailed CBA, 2-1.

Davis stepped to the plate in the bottom of the second and rolled in senior Mason Watt for the Golden Falcons' third run of the game. One inning later, senior Chandler Gentry sent home Watt and senior Jacob Sanford to make it 5-1.

The Golden Falcons scored their last run of the game in the fourth inning off a run-scoring hit to left field by senior Landon Casey that scored McGee.

South Brunswick set up its offense in the fifth inning, but CBA junior Joey Hampton made a diving catch in left field to end a rally. The Cougars scored a sixth-inning run with two outs to make it 6-2.

CBA junior Trey Jordan stepped on the rubber at the top of the seventh and closed out the game with two strikeouts.

"We ended up with three errors and shot ourselves in the foot," Cougars head coach Mike Anderson said. "We had one inning with the bases loaded, and we get the one run out of it. They're (Golden Falcons) a very good ball team. You got to play a clean game to have a chance to be in the game with them."

"We jumped out on them (Cougars) early," Davis said. "I thought we had some very good at-bats early, but as the game went on, we kind of took our foot off the pedal a little bit. We let them hang around a little bit."

Aycock plays host to South Johnston on Saturday. Game time is 5 p.m.