LEGION: Wilson Post 13 thwarts late Post 11 rally

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

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- The dust settled behind him as Jason Sherrer put the tractor, used to drag the infield after games, in its idle gear.

He leaned forward and used his shirt collar to swipe the sweat from his face. Clearly frustrated, the Wayne County Post 11 head coach aptly summed up a 5-4 loss to nemesis Wilson Post 13 on Thursday evening.

"We didn't get the job done," Sherrer said.

Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Post 11 threatened to either extend the affair into extra innings or stage a game-ending rally.

Derek Neal connected on a lead-off double and was replaced at second base by courtesy runner Hayden Amodeo. Carlyle Smith drew a walk.

Sherrer called for the sacrifice bunt and Post 13 reliever Jarrett Mobley coaxed JP Peacock into a pop-up caught by first baseman Brandon Winston. Mobley coaxed Lee Daniels into a flyout to left field and caught Jack Casbarro looking at a called third strike -- almost at the tip of his shoes -- to end the game.

"We had first and second with nobody out, popped it up ...," Sherrer said as the engine drowned his voice, which trailed off out of disappointment.

Post 13 starter Hunter Lee kept Wayne County scoreless until the seventh. The left-hander used just two pitches -- a fastball and off-speed weapon -- which fed his defense a steady diet of ground balls and lazy fly balls that even the slowest of outfielders could track down in the muggy night air.

Lee permitted two hits and allowed just five base runners through six innings.

"The game flew by, we didn't capitalize when we should have early and put some pressure on the defense," said Sherrer, whose team stranded six runners on the night and batted just 4-for-12 with them in scoring position.

Tied at 1-1, Wilson seized command in the top of the seventh.

Mobley delivered the big blow -- a two-out, two-RBI double to left field. The SouthWest Edgecombe graduate polished off the four-run outburst that started with teammate Nick Phillips, who's lead-off single put him at third base after Wayne County's outfield committed a two-base error.

Wayne County answered.

JP Peacock provided an RBI single, Post 13's defense conceded a run on Lee Daniels' groundout and Peacock scored on Zack Smith's base hit.

Sherrer attempted to score Casbarro as Smith rounded first base, but Post 13 right fielder Dylan Radford gunned him down at the plate to end the inning.

"The previous play (by Casbarro) the right fielder came up with an errant throw, the ball was wet," Sherrer said. "I figured we may as well give it a shot because Zack was hitting well. (Josh) Jernigan is not seeing the ball as well as he has been, so we wanted to take a chance and tie it up with Zack.

"We just didn't get a good secondary (lead) with the runner on second base and didn't score."

The play at home and the ill-executed bunt attempt in the ninth prevented Wayne County (14-7 overall) from clinching the Area I East Division regular-season title outright. Post 11, instead, will share the crown with Pitt County Post 39 and enter the playoffs as the No. 2 seed.

Pitt County is the No. 1 seed since it swept its two-game series with Post 11. Each team earned an opening-round bye.

Reigning Area I champ Wilson (12-6, 10-4 East) is seeded third and could also receive a bye depending on West Craven's fate today. Post 539 faces possible disqualification if league officials ruled that it failed to file its final roster to the state by the June 25 deadline.

Weather permitting, West Craven travels to Kinston today.

Edenton and first-year member Farmville opted out of the playoffs.