Southern Wayne comes alive, hammers Parrott Academy

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on April 18, 2017 9:22 AM

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WILSON -- The bats have not been kind to Southern Wayne over the past two weeks.

The Saints had lost six of their past seven games entering Monday's matchup against Parrott Academy. Three of those defeats were shutouts.

So it was a welcome sight when SW notched seven hits and scored nine runs in the second and third inning.

The explosive start proved more than enough to clinch a commanding 10-2 victory over Parrott on the second day of the Golden Leaf Invitational.

The Saints scored at least 10 runs for the first time since an 18-4 victory over D.H. Conley on March 24.

"We were taking what the pitcher was giving us more so than trying to do too much with the baseball," said SW head coach Trae McKee. "Hitting balls away from us the other way and pulling pitches that are in. I liked our approach a lot better early."

The Saints scored six runs in the second inning, and all of them came with two outs. With the bases loaded, Derek Holsinger slapped a two-RBI single into centerfield. Two batters later, Jack Casbarro tallied a RBI single.

 After Lance Wise brought in a run via hit by pitch, Kolby Anderson finished the frame with a two-RBI single.

Three more runs were added in the third inning. Noah Horton started the offense with a RBI single. Dylan Whitley scored while Parrott's catcher attempted to throw Horton out at second. Horton later scored thanks to a sacrifice fly by Casbarro.

Although it was a quick start, SW's offense cooled off significantly once Parrott brought in pitcher Connor Bright. In the next four innings, the Saints only had two hits, four base runners and one run.

"It's something we're gong to talk about," McKee said. "Get up early and not to lose focus. Right there after we had that big inning, I thought we lost a little bit of focus. They brought in one of their better arms, and we didn't make adjustments as quickly as I'd like to."

The Saints tallied nine hits as a team. Horton -- batting in the nine-hole -- led the team with three hits. SW starter Aryc Chrisman struck out four and gave up three walks and five hits in 5 2/3 innings.

McKee said Tuesday's win should give the team more confidence going forward. He knows his team has the capability of playing better, but he wants to see it through an entire game.

"We definitely needed to break that little funk that we were in," McKee said. "At times during that stretch we were playing really good, but we weren't playing complete games. But it's definitely good to get a win, and hopefully we can come back (today) and get another one."

Weather permitting, SW faces Nash Central at Hunt High School today. First pitch is 11 a.m.