Wayne Loses First Place at Pitt 39

This is the best I can do for you tonight. I had to do two stories. It's almost 2:30. I'll post the box and the stats before the Snow Hill game. I have to transcribe the last two games into my scorebook. any typos are, well, mine.

Wayne County Post 11 coach Brad Reaves was singing his team's praises following a come-from-behind win against Wilson Friday night. But he was in an altogether different mood the next game.

Wayne came to Pitt Community College Sunday night on top of the Area I East South division standings, but left no longer in that position following a 12-9 defeat to Pitt County Post 39.

(The Wilson game scheduled for tonight at Mount Olive College has been cancelled due to lighting problems.)

Pitt starter Cameron Rollins struck out 10 in six innings and Pitt held off a late Post 11 surge to drop Wayne to 3-2 in the division and 7-2 overall.

Reaves castigated his players for their lackadaisical attitude before the game and their failure to adjust to the opposition pitcher. ""We didn't adjust to the situation,"said Reaves. "We forgot there was a right field here. They do let you hit the ball there."

While Wayne was having its problems offensively, Pitt broke a 1-1 tie with four in the fifth. Leadoff batter Cooper Gagnen reached after the pitcher and third baseman couldn't decide on who should field his bouncer to the left side of the infield. He went to second on a wild pitch, and was safe at third on a grounder to short when third baseman Thomas Pilkington lost the ball on the tag. Josh Hudson and Daniel boyd followed a walk with two-run hits.

Pitt's Clark Massey had a solo home run in the sixth.

Rollins ran out of gas in the sixth and left the game after a hit batter and two walks. reliever Chase Hardee recorded two outs before Pilkington cleared the bases with a double.

So Wayne was back in it, but only for a short while.

Jackson Masey, who started the seventh foe Post 11, hadn't gotten much work recently, and it showed. He walked four of the seven batters he faced, and by the time Pitt was done it had struck for six runs and a 12-4 lead. MIchael Spruill had the big hit with a two-run single.

Wayne, however, still had some life in it. Jay Rose had an RBI double and Pilkington a two-run single in the five-run eighth.

In the ninth, Wayne got the tying run to the plate but a strikeout ended the game.