New Bern Cruises to Division Title

A week ago, Wayne County Post 11 was on the verge of taking first place in the Area I East South Division and claiming homefield advantage throughout the league playoffs. But that's no longer the case, and the team finds itself with the very real possibility of having a promising season cut short with a first-round exit.

Keith Spinner held Post 11 to six hits and struck out 12 in going the distance as New Bern POst 24 emphatically clinched first place in the division standings 8-3 Saturday night at New Bern High School. New Bern (8-2) will face the North Division's fourth place team, Beaufort County, while Wayne (6-4, 13-4) will take on Nash County in best-of-three series beginning Monday. Other pairings are Edenton vs. Pitt 39 and Wilson vs. Pitt 160.

T.J. HInson (4-2, 2.16) will get the start Monday and Garrett Davis (19 strikeouts in nine innings) will be on the mound in the road game.

Spinner didn't exactly blow the Post 11 batters away, but he did what he had to do in effectively mixing his pitches and keeping his opponents off balance. He never gave up the big hit, as Post 11 left seven runners in scoring position. He threw 147 pitches.

Wayne starter Grant Sasser was impressive in the early going. He struck out the side in the second and appeared to be cruising to another easy inning in the third. But how quickly things changed.

He fanned the first two batters, but the second one, Anthony Holloway, reached on a passed ball. He stole second and went to third on a soft single to center by Sam Sanders. Of New Bern's 11 hits, only three left the infield in the air.

A stolen base and and another passed ball produced the first run. Mark Hardeman followed a walk with a chopper that bounced over the head of the first baseman to right for an RBI single. Brett Williams singled through the right side of the infield on a 1-2 breaking pitch for another run. James Varner's grounder was misplayed as the fourth run came home.

Will Edgerton got one run back in the fourth. He singled to left, advanced on a grounder, stole third and scored on the bad throw. Zack Wright doubled with one out but was left there.

New Bern reclaimed that run in the home half after Holloway was plunked by a 1-2 fastball and later scored on the second of Hardeman's four hits.

New Bern's next two runs came in the sixth. Austin Zehr walked and Holloway reached on an infield hit. Zehr took third on a pickoff throw from the catcher, and Holloway stole second. They scored on a sacrifice fly and another Hardeman hit for a 7-1 lead.

Wayne was now in desperate straits, but positioned itself for a big rally in the seventh, only to fail to come through with the big hit. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out, and a repeat of the big comeback at Pitt 160 was a possibbility. But all Post 11 got from it was an RBI groundout by John Wooten.

The eighth was more of the same. Edgerton doubled to center. One out later, Wright struck out but reached on a passed ball. Nolan Lancaster came through with a pinch-hit RBI single, but Spinner retired the next two batters to end Wayne's last threat.

Sasser went five innings, allowed five hits and struck out seven.