e hënë, 30 qershor 2008

Our Leader



The brains of our operation. How did we get this far?

Meet Joe Cool


This guy is the only Post 11 player cooler than Jay Rose.

14 Game Totals

Stats are here.

Standings

NORTH
Wilson 6-1 .857 16-3
Rocky Mount 5-1 .833 9-2
Edenton 3-3 .500 6-4
Ahoskie 1-6 .143 2-12
Edgecombe Co. 0-4 .000 1-13
SOUTH
New Bern 4-2 .667 14-2 (WC, WC, 160, 160)
Kinston 4-2 .667 15-3 (39, 39, 160, NB)
Wayne County 4-3 .571 11-3 (160, 160, Kinston, 39)
Pitt County 39 3-3 .500 9-7 (NB, WC, 160)
Pitt County 160 1-6 .143 4-11 (Kinston)

The playoff-bound teams could finish anywhere from first to fourth.

NB: @ 39, @Kinston
Kinston: NB, WC
WC: @ Kinston
Pitt 39: NB, 160
Pitt 160: @ 39

Wayne Blows Lead, Wins in Ten

Box is here. No. 2, your career and season leaders are here. Adron Hollowell got a hit last night even though he didn't play. Imagine that.

On an evening in which the wind helped to send five balls out of the park, Wayne County Post 11 blew a four-run lead in the final two innings, survived a near walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth and ran its winning streak to five games with a 12-8 ten-inning win over Pitt County Post 160 Sunday night at South Central High School in Winterville.

Wayne (4-3, 11-3) will step out of Area I East for the next four games before concluding the regular season Sunday at Kinston. The team can guarantee itself at least a tie for second in the South Division with a win over Post 43 and still has a chance of at least a share of the regular season title.

Wayne will play host to North Raleigh on Tuesday, then travel to Garner on Wednesday.

Post 11 held an 8-4 lead going into the eighth thanks to four home runs, including two by John Wooten. He had taken over on the mound in the seventh after starter Michael Douglas allowed seven hits and one earned run. But he quickly ran into trouble as Aarin Sharpe singled off the first pitch and Jordan Corbett came back from an 0-2 count to double to left. Sharpe scored on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Will James cut the lead to two.

Wooten's breaking pitch again gave him trouble in the ninth. After Wayne left the bases loaded, Tanner Lovick and Josh Kozup walked. They advanced on another wild pitch, and Lovick scored on a sacrifice fly that flirted with the fence in right. Aarin Sharpe tied it on a ground ball hit to center. He advanced to second on Corbett's fourth hit but rounded the bag too far and was tagged out in a rundown. That would be Post 160's last gasp.

Alex Casey was hit by a pitch for the seventh time as he led off the tenth. One out later, Walker Gourley reached base in the same fashion. The count on Wooten went to 2-0 on a passed ball, and he received an intentional pass to load the bases for Jay Rose.

But Rose, who had hits in seven of his previous 14 at-bats, foiled that strategy with a two-run single up the middle for his third hit of the game. Wooten ended on third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Zach Wright. Lancaster followed an intentional walk to Thomas Pilkington with an RBI single through the right side of the infield.

Adron Hollowell easily set down Pitt in the bottom of the inning.

The first of Wooten's home runs came in the first on a 3-1 pitch. An inning later, Zach Wright led off with a homer to left on the first pitch for his fifth round-tripper. Pilkington followed him by likewise. Wooten homered with two out in the third, and Wayne added a pair in the fifth on a run-scoring single by Rose and an RBI groundout by Wright.

Pitt got three runs back in the sixth on a bloop two-run single to center by Will James and an RBI double by Steven McDonald.

In the Wayne eighth, Pilkington singled and Lancaster homered to center.

e diel, 29 qershor 2008

13 Game Totals/OBP

Stats are here.

Thomas Pilkington threatened to break my other wrist if I didn't post on-base percentages:

Edwards 30-61-.491
Gourley 33-61-.540
Wooten 22-59-.372
Wright 16-41-.390
Rose 17-47-.361
Moye 11-37-.297
Pilkington 14-33-.424
Casey 18-43-.419
Hill 14-40-.350
Lancaster 16-39-.410
Hollowell .280

Monster Inning Propels Wayne to Fourth Straight Win

Box is here. Stats tomorrow afternoon as I have to officiate at Kay Yow's camp in the morning.

Wayne County Post 11 gave Edgecombe County Post 316 a taste of the lead Saturday night in Tarboro before putting the hammer down.

The visitors exploded for 13 runs in the fourth to roll to a 14-4 win in seven innings in the non-division contest. Wayne (3-3, 10-3) will travel to South Central High School in Winterville tonight to face Pitt County Post 160 in an Area I East South Division match up.

Edgecombe loaded the bases in the first against Taylor Allen on two walks and a single, and he nearly got out of the jam. He got one batter on a liner, then struck out the next, only to have A.J. Peaks clear the bases with a double to center field. Allen settled down after that to allow two hits the next four innings before being relieved.

Wayne's big inning saw the first eleven batters reach base. Four errors helped to lead to six unearned runs.

Thomas Pilkington gave Edgecombe a sign of things to come when he slammed the first pitch into left for a single. Cambric Moye followed with a hit up the middle. At this point, the defense began aiding Post 11's cause. Nolan Lancaster's grounder to short resulted in an errant throw to second on the force play to score a run. Another run scored as Adron Hollowell's grounder was being misplayed.

Hollowell and Lancaster pulled off a double steal, and Alex Casey walked to load the bases. Tyler Edwards ripped an 0-2 curve into center for a two-bagger and a pair of runs, and a third came home on a fielding error. Walker Gourley took his place at second when he doubled to center.

The onslaught continued when John Wooten sent the first pitch over the left field fence. Zach Wright doubled to center, and Pilkington walked. Edgecombe then got its first outs on a double play. But the inning was far from over.

Lancaster singled through the right side of the infield for a run. Adron Hollowell walked, and Alex Casey was hit by a pitch for the sixth time this season. Edwards doubled over the head of the left fielder for another two runs, and the final error, coming on a dropped fly ball, brought two more runs home.

Pilkington homered to left in the fifth on a first-pitch fastball.

e shtunë, 28 qershor 2008

12 Games Totals

Stats are here.

A reminder that Wayne will play Sunday at South Central High School in Winterville.

e premte, 27 qershor 2008

Wayne Rallies Past Pitt 39

Box is here. The game with Edgecombe County is near C.B. Martin Middle School. Search Edgecombe County Schools for the address. Stats will come tomorrow.

Another Area I East South Division game, and another late-inning rally by Wayne County.

Zach Wright's leadoff home run provided the opening fireworks in a seven-run eighth inning as Post 11 surged past Pitt County Post 39 11-9 Thursday night at Southern Wayne High School. The results evened both teams' division records at 3-3. Wayne is 9-3 overall and will travel to Edgecombe County Saturday night for a non-division match up.

Wayne trailed by five runs going into the eighth and had managed only one earned run against Pitt starter Chase Hardee. He left after seven having allowed five hits and three walks. His replacement, Aaron Roberson, fell behind Wright 3-1 and served up a fastball that found the other side of the center field fence.

Thomas Pilkington reached on an error. One out later, Bryant Hill walked on four pitches and Alex Casey sent a bunt that hugged the third base line for a hit as the defense let it roll.

That loaded the bases for Tyler Edwards, and he drove a breaking pitch to left for two runs. With the runners breaking, Walker Gourley slapped a 2-1 fastball through the hole to right field to bring Wayne within one. John Wooten's fly ball to center tied it.

Jay Rose doubled to the fence in left centerfield to score Gourley from first and give Post 11 the lead. He went to third on a wild throw to the plate and scored on a passed ball.

Wooten, who had taken over the pitching duties in the eighth, retired the first two batters before Patrick Roy reached second on an infield hit and an error. Wooten ran the count full to Josh Hudson before retiring him on a grounder to Pilkington at third to complete the improbable comeback.

Wayne coach Brad Reaves didn't sound very happy as the winner. "Tonight we came with the attitude we had three games ago. We dragged around. We had our lips out. We got away from what we had been doing well at the plate. I don't know how many pitches we swung at tonight chest high and took ourselves out of it.

"We made some terrible two-strike pitches tonight. There's no telling how many hits they got tonight with two strikes. It was absolutely horrible." Pitt had five hits with the count either 0-2 or 1-2.

"Jay Rose was the only one who had an idea of what he wanted to do all night. He was the only one locked in."

Wayne starter Adron Hollowell walked two in the first but got out of trouble before Pitt lit him up for five in the fourth. With one out and runners on the corners, Tanner Merritt doubled down the third base line to tie it Hollowell walked Bobby Hannon on four pitches and got ahead of Patrick Roy 0-2. Three pitches later, with the count 1-2, Roy sent the bal over the center field fence for a 5-1 lead in Hollowell's last inning.

Wayne pulled within one in the home half. Pilkington's fly ball to center was dropped for an error, and Nolan Lancaster reached on an infield hit with one out. A run scored on a wild throwo on Bryant Hill's grounder to second to put runners on first and second. After a force out, Edwards reached on an error to load the bases. A wild pitch made it 5-3, and Gourley reached on an infield hit to close the lead to one. Edwards, who ended up at third was out in a run down after being picked off.

Michael Douglas took over on the mound and retired the first two batter in the fifth but a hit batter, an error, a walk and another hit batter extended the lead to two.

Pitt added three in the seventh. Hardee singled and Merritt doubled him to third with none out. Douglas struck out the next two batters looking only to have Hudson drill a breaking pitch to center for two runs. He scored on a hit by Ethan Powell.

e mërkurë, 25 qershor 2008

Casey Impressive in First Mound Start

Note: Box is here. Stats are here but pitches are incorrect.


It's not how Alex Casey started but rather how he finished.

The Wayne County Post 11 right fielder got his first taste of the mound as an American Legion player Wednesday night at Southern Wayne High School against Area I West opponent Apex Post 124. It was not an auspicious beginning.

He allowed three runs, including a homer, in the first inning and threw 26 pitches. Then he turned things around in dramatic fashion by blanking the visitors over the next four innings on 32 pitches as Wayne rolled to a 13-3 five-inning non-conference win to improve to 8-3.

Wayne will play host to Pitt County Post 39 tonight in a South Division match up.

Casey retired the first two batters before Mike Knox punched a curve ball to the right field foul line to keep the inning alive. Aaron Price drove a 2-0 fastball over the center field fence. Evan Oliver followed a single and a walk with a flare over the head of the third baseman for the third run. Casey ran the count full on counterpart Drew Shultz and struck him out on a called strike to end the inning.

Apex got two runners the rest of the way. Casey threw 58 pitches, and only 32 for strikes, but he fulfilled his goal of making the hitters put the ball in play.

The Post 11 offense didn't waste any time getting those runs back as it tied the game in the home half of the first. Tyler Edwards walked and Walker Gourley continued to wield a hot stick with a single to right on the first pitch. Edwards stole third and Gourley advanced on a wild pitch on the same play. Edwards scored on the second of five wild pitches. One out later, Zach Wright grounded out to bring home a run. Thomas Pilkington walked, advanced on a bad pickoff throw and scored on Cambric Moye's single to right.

Wayne took control in the second with six runs, only one earned thanks to a pair of errors. Bryant Hill double, Edwards walked and they advanced on a passed ball. Gourley hit a one-hopper to the second baseman, and he sidestepped it for an error. Gourley stole second, and John Wooten walked. Gourley stole third and continued home on the bad throw.

Wright stole second - will wonders never cease - and both came home as Pilkington's grounder to short was thrown away. Moye's second hit put Pilkington on third, and he scored on a wild pitch.

Wooten had an RBI double in the two-run third. He led off the fifth with a ground ball single to left, and Wright followed with a hit up the middle. The game ended on a two-run double by Pilkington.

Wayne is 86-8 in games decided by the ten-run rule.

e martë, 24 qershor 2008

Pilkington Homers Late to Lift Wayne Past Kinston

Note: Stats are here.

Box is here. You should be able to view this now that I clicked the appropriate box.

What part of Wayne County's game with Kinston Tuesday night at Southern Wayne High School do you want first: the good, the bad or the ugly?

The good: Wayne won 11-10 to improve to 2-3 in Area I East South Division play and 7-3 overall, snapping a three-game losing streak. The offense came alive after being in the doldrums for two games. Several players being counted on to spark the offense had big games.

The bad: The defense made four errors to give it 33 on the season. Wayne coughed up a five-run lead late and was one misplay from being down two runs.

The ugly: Wayne's baserunning antics should have been put under a tent with a few dancing bears and a couple of jugglers. One player was picked off first, two were picked off second by the catcher, one was out on a missed suicide squeeze play and one broke for second on a wild pitch while the front runner stayed put.

Wayne will play Apex Wednesday night at home in a non-conference game, then square off with division opponent Pitt County Post 39 Thursday in a crucial match up at SWHS.

After seeming to have the game in hand, Wayne watched Kinston explode for five runs in the eighth against reliever John Wooten to tie it and seemingly grab the momentum. But momentum is a fickle lady, and she left Post 43 shortly after she latched on to the visitors' arms.

Thomas Pilkington drove a 1-2 breaking pitch over the left field fence with one out in the home half of the inning to provide Post 11 with the margin it needed, and Wooten pitched around a leadoff error in the ninth to hand Post 11 the win.

"Thomas had a couple of plays he should have made and he knew it and he was down," said Wayne coach Brad Reaves. "I told him 'It's always going to come back to you.' If you watch enough games on TV you'll see some guy kick it and come back the next inning and hit it out. That's the thing about this game."

The offenses combined for 31 hits against six pitchers. Wayne pounded Kinston starter Billy Dudding for 13 hits in less than four innings. Post 11 starter Michael Douglass faltered in the third and gave up a three-run homer but otherwise looked solid in five-plus innings of work.

Wooten hit the first of three solo home runs for Wayne with two out in the first. An inning later, Nolan Lancaster and Bryant Hill singled to start the inning. Lancaster was picked off second by catcher Carter Capps, and a strikeout followed. But Post 11 was just getting started. Tyler Edwards drove the first pitch to the center field fence, and Walker Gourley drove him in with a hit up the middle. He later scored on Wooten's hit to center.

Kinston got three of those runs back in the third on Trey Beamon's home run with two aboard.

Lancaster homered in the home half, and Wayne took an 8-3 lead with three in the fourth. It could have been more but for the baserunning. Two runs were home with runners on first and second when Wright broke for second on a wild pitch. The front runner didn't go, and Wright was tagged out by the catcher. Pilkington doubled, and Lancaster was hit by a pitch. Bryant Hill walked on a full count to bring in a run, but a suicide failed and a popup ended the threat.

Wright had a solo home run in the sixth.

Kinston trailed 10-5 before the big rally. Capps singled off an 0-2 pitch, Tyler Potter walked and Grant Williams homered to center to trim the lead to two. Brandon Sutton's walk came around a pop up and a strikeout. Lee Taylor's liner to right was misjudged for a triple, and Kinston tied it on Andrew Manning's infield hit. Taylor Ginn doubled to left centerfield to bring the go-ahead run in scoring position. Pilkington made a nice play on a grounder to get Post 11 in the dugout.

Then came Pilkington's homer.

Potter reached on an error to start the ninth, but Wooten struck out the next two batters and got the game-ending out on a fly ball to short.

Wilson Defeats Post 39

In a non-conference game, Wilson Post 13 defeated Pitt County Post 39 11 to 5.


Runs Hits Errors

Post 13 11 14 0
Post 39 5 15 3

e diel, 22 qershor 2008

Our Number One Fan


You should hear Keith talk about you guys when he comes home!

Every Woman's Dream

Will this person lead Post 11 to success in 2008?

Nine Game Totals

Season totals are here.

I am about to complete my history of the program. You can access it on the link at the right.

Now, after I watch the Yankees on the computer, I'll try to figure out this newfangled camera so I can take some pictures tomorrow.

Attention Players: Grow Up

Respect. It's not just a song recorded by Aretha Franklin.

What do I find after arriving in the Sportsman's World parking lot but Charles Lane spending his valuable time having to clean up after a bunch of spoiled brats instead of driving to South Carolina for his next assignment. Is it too much to expect people your age to have the decency to discard your trash in the container in the front of the vehicle? Is it too much to ask that you not leave food on the floor and in the seats? Is is unreasonable to wonder why your coach has to remind you to leave the bus in the same condition you found it?

Is it out of line for me to think that the candy in my bag is to be left alone and not to be taken when my back is turned and then strewn around the bus?

I'm used to your treating me with contempt, but I expect you to do better by a man who spent over a quarter of a century as a coach and educator.

If you can't do better than this, leave the program and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Wayne Drops Third Straight

Note: Box is here; stats will come later today.
Note 2: Pitt County 39 swept Ahoskie 6-0 and 10-2.

After winning its first six games, Wayne County Post 11 is headed in the wrong direction.

New Bern jumped out to a 9-0 lead after two innings and coasted to a 10-4 win over Post 11 at New Bern High School Saturday night to hand Wayne its third straight defeat. Wayne fell to 6-3 overall and 1-3 in Area I East South Division play.

Wayne will attempt to get back on track Monday night at home against division opponent Kinston Post 43.

Wayne starter Taylor Allen didn’t have anything go his way in the five-run first. After a leadoff walk, Matt Hardeman was safe on an error.

Post 11 third baseman Thomas Pilkington was unable to tag the runner going to third on a grounder, and the bases were loaded.

Allen then left a 1-2 breaking pitch over the plate, and Gabe Brown drilled it into left field for two runs. Sam Sander followed another walk with a ground ball single up the middle to make it 4-0. Bobby Dorman’s RBI single to right finished the scoring.

Allen ran into more trouble in the second after retiring the first batter. A walk, a single and Gabe Brown’s run-scoring double spelled the end of the night for Allen. Another run scored on an error.

Wayne had dug itself a hole from which it would not recover, but the bright spot was what happened after Allen left. Four Post 11 pitchers limited New Bern to one earned run the remainder of the game.

Wayne got on the scoreboard in the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Bryant Hill. In the sixth, Walker Gourley was hit by a pitch to open the inning. John Wooten singled to center and Zach Wright reached on an infield hit to load the bases. . One out later, Cambric Moye singled to left for two runs. Nolan Lancaster drove in the final run with a bad-hop single to center.

Wayne couldn’t keep up the offensive momentum and managed only two runners in the final three innings.

e shtunë, 21 qershor 2008

Pitt 39 Defeats Pitt 160

Runs Hits Errors

Post 39 6 7 2
Post 160 4 11 0

e premte, 20 qershor 2008

Kinston Drops Pitt 39

Runs Hits Errors

Post 43 6 9 3

Post 39 4 8 1

e mërkurë, 18 qershor 2008

Eight Game Statistics

Found a couple of mistakes, but they have been corrected. So, enjoy.

Pitt 39 Hands Wayne Second Straight Defeat

Box is here. Stats will come tomorrow. It's past 1;30.

Wayne County Post 11 coach Brad Reaves didn't sound that concerned despite seeing his team drop its second game in as many days.

"It was one of those nights," he said. "They hit 'em where we weren't and we hit 'em where they were."

Pitt County Post 39 (2-0, 5-2) dropped Wayne to 1-2 in Area I East South Division play and 6-2 overall with a 9-2 win at Pitt County Community College Tuesday night. Wayne will travel to New Bern High School Saturday night for a game against New Bern Post 24.

As with the loss against New Bern a night earlier, Wayne found itself in an early hole. But unlike the previous game, there would not be a comeback.

Post 11 starter Michael Douglas retired the first two batters in the second only to have Pitt string together six straight hits to take a 4-0 lead. Josh Hudson and Tanner Merritt hit consecutive doubles for the first run, and Douglas had Patrick Roy 0-2 before leaving a breaking pitch over the plate. Roy slapped it throught the left side of the infield for a run. An infield hit, a bloop single to left and Clark Massey's RBI single to right gave Pitt all the runs it would need.

Wayne turned two double plays over the next three innings to help Douglas out of more trouble.

Pitt starter Paul McIntosh effectively mixed his fastball and curve to keep Wayne off the scoreboard for the four innings he was on the mound. He allowed three hits, and didn't walk or strike out anyone. The three Post39 hurlers didn't register a strikeout but needed only 88 pitches to get through the first eight innings.

Two errors and a single to shallow center by Trey Styons gave Pitt a six-run lead in the sixth. Post 39 added three in the seventh. Daniel Boyd singled to start the inning, stole second and scored on a double by Chase Hardee. After a walk to Hudson, Merritt drove in Hardee with a hit to center. The final run scored as a grounder by Styons was being misplayed, one of six Wayne errors. Pitt stranded the potential game-ending run at second as John Wooten retired the next two batters on a foul out and a strikeout.

Pitt seemed poised to end the game in the eighth. Boyd's fly bal to right was dropped for a three-base error. Wooten fell behind Hardee 3-1 but got him on a ball back to the mound. He retired the next two batters on grounders to third to give Post 11 a chance at avoiding the shutout.

They made good on it. Reliever Aaron Roberson, who had entered the game in the fifth, got two outs on fly balls but couldn't finish the deal. Wooten doubled to right centerfield, and Thomas Pilkington singled up the middle for a run. Cambric Moye doubled to right to end Roberson's time on the mound. And in a fitting conclusion to the affair, Bryant Hill lined out to second. Wayne had five lineouts, including one that doubled a runner off first.

"It's early," said Reaves. "You can't win the league now. We're just trying to settle into a lineup and define some roles, so it's going to take a while."

e martë, 17 qershor 2008

Wayne Drops First Game

Box is here.

Season stats are here.

Last night, Wayne County Post 11 got an indication of how competitive and brutal life might be in the Area I East South Division.

Visiting New Bern Post 24 (2-1, 4-2) couldn't hold an early 5-0 lead but came alive late and got four clutch innings of relief pitching from Nate Healy to defeat Wayne 9-7 at Southern Wayne High School Monday night. Wayne (1-1, 6-1) will travel to Greenville tonight for a enounter with Pitt County Post 39.

It took only six pitches for Wayne starter Taylor Allen to find himself in a big hole. Leadoff batter Chris Dorman and Matt Hardeman singled on the first offerings to them. Brett Williams sent a 1-2 breaking pitch over the center field fence. An inning later, Hardeman and Williams drove in runs to put Allen on the ropes. But the right-hander rallied and avoided the knockout punch in holding New Bern scoreless over the next three innings.

Wayne overcame the deficit with a pair of big innings. Alex Casey reached on a one-out infield hit in the third. Tyler Edwards and Walker Gourley singled to load the bases. After a fly ball out, Jay Rose singled through the right side of the infield for two runs. Gourley came home on a wild pitch.

In the fourth, Wayne benefited from two more clutch hits. Casey was hit by a pitch with two out to put runners on first and second. Edwards drove in a run with his third hit, and Guorley dropped a double down the right field line for a 6-5 lead. Rose homered to left in the fifth to put Post 11 ahead by two.

Wayne would leave five runners in scoring position the rest of the way.

Adron Hollowell replaced Allen after a leadoff walk in the sixth and struck out the next two batters to help strand the runner. A sacrifice fly by Gabe Brown in the seventh made it a one-run game. Hollowell contributed to his demise in the eighth when he airmailed a throw into right field on Eric Kosco's roller up the first base line. Kosco moved to third when Hollowell's 3-2 pitch to Anthony Holloway went to the backstop.

Wayne chose to play deep for the double play and got a grounder but couldn't turn it.

Williams walked to start the ninth and stole second. He scored on Shaun Armstrong's opposite-field double to right. A two-out infield hit put runners on the corner, and New Bern executed the double steal for a two-run cushion.

Zach Wright was hit by a pitch to start the home ninth but he died on first.

Healy relieved starter Glenn Nobles in the sixth and allowed two his and a walk along with two hit batters.

e hënë, 16 qershor 2008

Area I East Standings

Courtesy of Rudy Coggins and the CIA. The former tracked down the coaches and the latter threatened them with waterboarding if they didn't cooperate.

NORTH DIVISION
Rocky Mount (2-0, 6-1)
Wilson (3-1, 10-2)
Ahoskie (1-1, 2-5)
Edenton (0-2, 0-2)
Edgecombe County (0-2, 0-9)
SOUTH DIVISION
Wayne County (1-0, 6-0)
Pitt County 39 (1-0, 4-2)
New Bern (1-1, 3-1)
Kinston (0-0, 10-0)
Pitt County 160 (0-2, 1-4)

e diel, 15 qershor 2008

Post 11 Back In Action Tonight At Home

Note: The BellSouth link on the right has a rundown on all the Post 11 teams, including scores and stats, up to 1993. I'll continue work on that this week.
Note 2: Kinston defeated Pitt 39 15-8 Sunday night.


Undefeated Wayne County resumes play tonight against New Bern Post 24. (It's about @#$%&#@$% time!)
From what I know about the opposition the team has seen, Wayne has not played a tough schedule. That's about to change with New Bern, Pitt 39 and Kinston on the horizon. What can we expect to see in the next few weeks? You guess is as good as mine, considering that we have only six games to go on, but I wanted to take the opportunity to look at what the team has done so far and compare it to what recent Post 11 teams accomplished. What will it take for this team to be a major contender for the Area I East title and a spot in the state tournament in Gastonia?

Here are lots of comparative numbers for Post 11 teams from 1990-2007. Wayne has played for the league championship 11 of the past 14 seasons. From 1994-2004, Wayne missed the title round once, and that was due to how the playoffs were configured. What do the numbers from the admittedly small sample show so far?

Offensively, Wayne is scoring 8.5 runs/game. That is in the middle of the 18 teams. The .280 batting average is third worst; yes, good Legion teams hit the ball very well. The best news is that this team is adept at scoring runners. The 52 percent mark is third best.

Pitching? That was a concern from the beginning due to all the inexperience. Wayne lost 90 percent of its innings pitched from the state runnerup team. So, how have the youthful arms responded so far?

Wayne is allowing 4.3 runs/game, tied for fifth. The pitches per inning are 15.3. I don't have numbers on that but my experience tells me that's good. The opposition batting average of .245 is below average. At this point in the season, the mark should be more dominant.

The best stat so far is that the opposition is scoring only 31 percent of its runners. That's tied for the best mark. The other three teams that did that well won the league championship.

Walks? The 3.1 mark is third best. It's probably a number that will be vital to this team as it can't afford to give the opposition a lot of runners via that route. The 1997 team that lost to Cherryville for the state title had a much worse mark but it had a lights-out offense and a great strikout percentage from its pitchers.

The most worrisome state is the 6.3 strikeouts per nine innings. That's a solid number if you're in professional baseball but not at this level. It's the worse K/9IP of the group. These pitchers do not miss enough bats. That's going to put added presure on the defense to make the ordinary plays. Already two-thirds of the runs allowed have been unearned, as evidence by the 1.67 ERA. That number stands out like a sore thumb, but an extremely low ERA is not unusual that this point in the season, so I hesitate to make much of it. The pitchers don't have to be good. They just have to be mediocre if the bats will come through. There's something to be said at times for mediocrity.

Well, that's a rundown of the numbers. Now, let's play ball.

e shtunë, 14 qershor 2008

Area I Standings

Standings through Friday, June 13
Area I East
Wilson 2-0, 9-1
Ahoskie 1-0, 2-4
Rocky Mount 0-0, 0-0
Edenton 0-1, 0-1
Edgecombe Co. 0-2, 1-9

Wayne 1-0, 6-0
Pitt 39 1-0, 4-1
New Bern 1-1, 3-1
Kinston 0-0, 9-0
Pitt 160 0-2, 1-4

Area 1 West
American
Clayton 3-0 3-4
Apex 1-1
Benson 0-1
Garner 0-2 3-7

National
Cary 2-1 5-4
Roxboro 2-1 2-2
Durham 1-1 3-5
Kerr Lake 0-1
North Raleigh 0-1

e premte, 13 qershor 2008

Pitt 39 Defeats Pitt 160

Pitt 39 defeated Pitt 160 in a non-conference game.


Runs Hits Errors

Post 39 9 6 5
Post 160 3 8 3

e mërkurë, 11 qershor 2008

Pitt 39 Defeats Pitt 160

Post 39 defeated Post 160 in a non-conference game on June 10, 2008.

Runs Hits Errors
Post 39 15 12 0

Post 160 2 3 7

A correction on the report on the June 3 game with Kinston. It was a non-conference game.

e hënë, 9 qershor 2008

Statistics

Five-game totals are here.

Six-game totals are here.

I'm closing in on putting all the teams' stats in the computer and hope to finish uploading them to the other site by the weekend. Check back before the next game and I'll have a look at the numbers so far and what they might tell us.

Post 11 Stays Unbeaten with Doubleheader Sweep

Note: I will post the season statistics tomorrow. Edgecombe box is here.
The Garner box is here. It's almost two. Time for some beauty sleep.

Note 2:

Post 39 defeated New Bern Post 24:

Runs Hits Errors
Post 39 7 14 5
Post 24 5 9 4


It was a good day for the home team, and a great day for its shortstop.

Walker Gourley had six hits, including three doubles, drove in five runs and stole four bases as Wayne County Post 11 remained undefeated with a double header sweep of non-division opponents in the sweltering heat at Southern Wayne High School Sunday afternoon and evening.

Wayne's unusual schedule continues unabated as it will take another week off before resuming Area I East South Division play Monday, June 16 at home against New Bern Post 24.

Gourley drove in four runs in the opener as Wayne (1-0, 6-0) defeated North Division foe Edgecombe County 8-3. In the nightcap, John Wooten had three hits and drove in three runs in a 7-2 win over Area I West member Garner Post 232.

Gourley gave his team a 2-0 lead in the third inning against Edgecombe with a double to center field. Edgecombe tied it in the fourth before Post 11 got those runs back in the fifth with the aid of two wild pitches and two walks. Gourley was part of a first-and-third double steal with Tyler Edwards.

Wayne added four in the sixth for all the cushion it needed. Edwards and Gourley produced consecutive two-run singles to center to make itj 8-2.

Michael Douglas went five innings for the win and stayed away from the big inning despite allowing six hits and two walks. Both of his runs were unearned.

Garner's porous defense and anemic offense helped Wayne in the second game. Taylor Allen went four strong innings before running into trouble in the fifth. Adron Hollowell relieved him with runners on first and second with no outs and a run home. Garner managed only one more run in the inning and couldn't mount any threats against Hollowell the rest of the way.

Gourley doubled home one run in the two-run first, and Wayne took advantage of four errors in the third to score three more to take a 5-0 lead. Wooten and Thomas Pilkington had RBI singles.

Wooten drove in two more runs an inning later with his third hit.

Wayne continues to score an exceptionally good number of runners and is doing an excellent job at run prevention. Over half of Post 11's runners have made it home while less than a third of the opposition's has.

e shtunë, 7 qershor 2008

Roster

The roster, and I posted it less than 24 hours after TJ Hinson asked for it.

2 Walker Gourley
4 Bryant Hill
6 Zach Wright
8 Alex Casey
9 Jay Rose
10 Tyler Edwards
11 John Wooten
12 Thomas Pilkington
13 Michael Douglas
14 Adron Hollowell
15 Cambric Moye
16 Eric DuBose
17 Taylor Allen
18 Nolan Lancaster
20 Colton Fulghum
22 Jesse Randolph

e mërkurë, 4 qershor 2008

Pitt 39 Rolls Past Tarboro/Edgecombe County

Runs Hits Errors
Pitt County Post 39 18 19 2
Edgecombe Co Post 316 3 4 5

e diel, 1 qershor 2008

Stats Are Here

Totals for three games. Totals for four games.

I will post a roster with numbers later today.