PREP BASEBALL: Frederick, CBA deny Eastern Wayne

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on May 5, 2017 10:13 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- Classic rivalry material.

Junior right-hander Luke Frederick tossed 62/3 innings of three-hit quiz trivia, Blake Gipson drove in a pair of powder-blue base runners and Charles B. Aycock overcame an early deficit to turn back Eastern Wayne, 5-2, at Charles Davis Field on Thursday evening.

The back-and-forth nature of the tilt started in the second inning when EW jumped to a quick 2-0 advantage on the strength of RBI hits from Drew Barnes and senior Keyon Gaines.

Aycock responded, however, on quality at-bats a frame later from Chandler Matthews and Blake Gipson -- tying the score and breathing life back into the arm of Frederick.

From there, he managed his way through the EW lineup and encountered peril just once -- in the fourth -- when the Warriors' bases-loaded threat was dissolved by a deftly-turned, 4-6-3 Aycock double play.

"We came out, put some pressure on them," Eastern Wayne skipper Walker Gourley said. "But in the fourth, we've got bases loaded and one out... from there, we struggled to get anything going."

Indeed.

Bolstered by run support in the fifth and sixth innings from Matthews and eight-holer Bobby Hampton, the quick-working Frederick kept EW hitters guessing and hung around until being retrieved by skipper Charles Davis just one out away from a complete-game performance.

"Luke battled," Davis said of his starter's effort. "And he got better as the game went on -- but pitch count got him in the end."

Frederick was supplanted on the cliff by the vapor-dealing Jordan Gay, who finished matters off in short order to the delight of the Aycock faithful.

Offensively, Matthews paced Aycock with a 2-for-3 effort that included an RBI. Gipson, Frederick and Hampton also supported the cause with timely base knocks and poise in the batters' box.

Post-game, Davis' baseball family gathered for an on-field celebration of his 500th career victory -- a mercy-rule stamping of Southeastern Home School of Wilmington that occurred on March 25 in Wilson.

But as usual, the old ball coach was focused on the road ahead.

"It was a nice gesture at the end, but we'll be right back at it Monday," Davis noted. "Like we told them, our record right now is 18-6, but come Sunday, it's zero and zero -- and anything can happen."