NCISAA 1A: Chargers dispatch nemesis from postseason

By Brandon Davis
Published in Sports on May 17, 2016 1:48 PM

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bdavis@newsargus.com

Michael Taylor's real hilarious.

The Wayne Country Day head baseball coach stood before his starting pitcher Mitch Turnage at the top of the seventh inning -- with two outs and the bases loaded -- and demanded the ball.

Turnage handed it over, only to have Taylor give it right back. Turnage turned toward home plate and threw a strikeout to end a 9-2 routing over Greenfield in N.C. Independent High School Athletic Association 1-A Playoffs on Thursday evening.

"I went to the mound, and I said, 'give me the ball'," Taylor said. "I said, 'give me the ball -- I'm just playing with you'. I wanted him to finish the game."

The fourth-seeded Chargers sat comfortably in the final inning, up seven runs with Turnage on the rubber.

Greenfield senior Jake Taylor hit a pop fly to right field -- a chance for a Chargers' third out -- but the ball landed on the ground.

Turnage walked two Knights and watched Taylor leave the dugout.

"I thought we had it with two batters before, and then they (Greenfield) had the two better batters come up," Turnage said. "That top four...that's their heart.

"I threw a curve ball, (and) I didn't know if he would swing or if he didn't. It was okay if we walked him. I knew the next guy, I had confidence in getting him. I stepped in there with every bit of confidence I had and did the job."

He did the job at the plate as well. Turnage knocked it out of the park in the bottom of the fifth, and the Chargers led the fifth-seeded Knights, 4-2.

Junior John Strickland stole home, and freshman Drew Barnes and junior Zac Barfield crossed home plate.

WCDS led, 7-2, going into the sixth inning.

The Chargers grabbed two more runs and advanced to the third round of the playoffs. They face the winner of Oakwood School and Terra Ceia Christian School on May 17.

The reigning champion Greenfield watched its playoff hopes end.

"We were playing well, but we made a few mistakes, and they (Chargers) took advantage of it," Knights head coach Daniel Johnson said. "They really did, and they are a good baseball team.

"When you're playing good teams, and you make mistakes, if they take advantage of it, they are going to beat you."

WCDS lost to Greenfield, 5-3, on April 15, but Taylor credits his batters for Thursday's victory.

"Our bats just woke up," he said. "I look down, and we had six hits in one inning. Hitting is contagious, and that's what it became. It became contagious."