ECBL: Whaley has 12-strikeout outing for CBA Blue

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on July 1, 2016 1:48 PM

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bcoley@newsargus.com

After playing against Eastern Wayne on Thursday evening, C.B. Aycock Blue starting pitcher Cody Whaley may have a future at the blackjack tables in Las Vegas.

The budding star was absolutely dealing.

In six innings of work, Whaley struck out 12 batters and allowed two hits, helping the Golden Falcons clinch an 11-1 victory over the Warriors on the last day of the Eastern Carolina Baseball League season.

Eastern Wayne took an early 1-0 edge in the bottom of the second thanks to aggressive base running by Keyon Gaines.

The Golden Falcons offense responded with five unanswered runs -- four coming in the top of the fourth. In that inning, Nick Aycock and Sam Mott slammed an RBI double and two-RBI double, respectively.

Caleb Matthews added a sacrifice fly.

"(Eastern Wayne) came out to play early on and they were just playing harder than we were," said Aycock Blue head coach Allen Thomas. "We challenged (our players) to get up there and have good approaches. In the fourth inning, we began to square up and have much better at-bats."

In the bottom of the fourth, Eastern Wayne threatened with runners on first and second and no outs.

Whaley, showing little signs of panic, struck out the next batter. Then the next one. And finally one more to end the inning.

In the fifth frame, Whaley returned to the mound with a rhythm established. The next three Warrior batters suffered the same fate as the previous three -- strikeout, strikeout and strikeout.

In exchange, the Golden Falcons tacked on three more runs in the top of the sixth inning to take an 8-1 lead.

Whaley's command remained unchanged in the bottom of the sixth. He struck out the first Warrior batter for his seventh consecutive punch-out. In the next at-bat, Colby Miller managed to break the streak with a groundout.

But fittingly, Whaley put an exclamation on his day by striking out Andrew Fricks to finish off the inning.

"It seemed like every time I looked up, we were in a 0-1 count," said Eastern Wayne head coach Walker Gourley. "He was just pounding the zone, and we didn't take advantage."

The Golden Falcons continued the offensive downpour in the seventh frame with a three RBI double by Tyler Daniels.

Luke Frederick relieved Whaley in the bottom of the seventh. Not to be outdone by his predecessor, Frederick struck out all three batters he faced to end the game.

Thomas said that the ECBL season was a success for the Aycock Blue team. But what excites him most is not how well they've done. It's how much better they can become.

"I know it sounds cliché to say, but there's so much room for growth," Thomas said. "We just challenged them in the huddle to get stronger and to get faster and work on their bodies between now and next season."