Edenton Game Stopped; Wayne Wins by Forfeit

Edenton - Talk about a bizarre way to win a baseball game.

Edenton Post 40 was on the verge of evening its Area I East semifinal playoff series with Wayne County Post 11 Saturday night at Hicks Field when an ejection in the seventh inning resulted in a forfeit against the home team and the visitors taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five match up.

Note: All records count, but there are no winning or losing pitchers.

The two teams will meet again in Edenton tonight at seven.

The unlikely chain of events that led to the end of the game began in the top of the inning. Wayne, trailing 3-1, put together three straight hits and a run, resulting in a pitching change. At the same time, Gabriel Brickhouse replaced Dusty Todd at second. That left Edenton without any substitutes.

In the home half, Edenton loaded the bases with one out. A fly ball to centerfielder Noah Lancaster led to a play at home. Lancaster's strong throw beat Brickhouse to the plate, and he put a shoulder into catcher Tyler Ham but failed to dislodge the ball. Legion rules forbid runners from inititating that type of contact, leading to the ejection.

And with that also went Edenton's hopes for a win. Teams must have nine players for the game to continue.

In the series openter, Edenton struggled offensively, getting five runners. Wayne wasn't much better in this game with eight.

Wayne, 17-4, got on the scoreboard first on a solo home run in the third by Jackson Massey. Edenton starter Landon Jordan retired 11 of the next 12 batters before the trouble in the seventh.

Wayne starter Taylor Bullard struggled with control problems throughout his six innings. On several occasions, he was saved by his defense. Wayne turned a doubled play in the first. In the second, leftfielder Will Edgerton played a Jordan's fly ball joff the wall perfectly to nail Judd Whitehead going to third. An inning later, he relayed another shot in left centerfield to shortstop Gourley, and the accurate throw home got Beasley.

But in the fourth, his good fortune ran out. He struck out the first two batters before walking Jordan. John Layton doubled to center to tie the game.

Edenton's Zack Beasley was on first with two out in the fifth when he moved to third on a wild pickoff throw . His feint toward home unnerved Bullard, causing a balk. An inning later, Tyler Swain followed a pair of two-out walks with a run-scoring double.

Wayne got hits from Lancaster, Ham and Thomas Pilkington to start the seventh and put the tying run at the plate. That resulted in Beasley coming to the mound.

Conner Narron's fly ball to shallow left centerfield was dropped but thrown to second for a force out. The next two batters struck out.

Wayne....AB..R..H..BI...........Edenton....AB..R..H..BI
Massey rf..2..1..1..1...............Thomas rf..4..0..0..0
Gourley ss..4..0..0..0............Todd 2b..3..0..2..0
Davis dh..3..0..0..0................Brickhouse 2b..1..0..1..0
Wooten 1b..3..0..0..0.............Beasley lf-p..1..1..0..0
Edgerton lf..3..0..0..0............Westbrook cf..4..0..1..0
Lancaster cf..3..1..1..0...........Higgins ss-lf..3..0..0..0
Pilkington 3b..3..0..2..1.........Whitehead 3b..4..0..1..0
Narron 2b..3..0..0..0..............Jordan p-ss..1..2..1..0
......................________........Swain 1b..3..0..1..1
........................26..2..5..2..............................________
.........................................................................25..3..8..2

Wayne 001...000...1 - 2...5...1
Edenton 000...111...0 - 3...8...0

E-Bullard. DP-Wayne 2. LOB-Wayne 6, edenton 7. 2B-Layton
HR-Massey. SB-Massey.

................IP..H..R..ER..BB..SO
Wayne
Bullard...6..7..3..2..5..6
Grice.....1..1..0..0..0..1
Edenton
Jordan...6..5..2..2..2..4
Beasley..1..0..0..0..0..2
BK-Bullard. HBP-Beasley (by Bullard), Massey (by Jordan), Beasley
(by Grice), Higgins (by Grice.)