Wayne finishes Second in State for Fifth Time

I'm going to post the stats for the end of the season later today.

Wayne County's first American Legion state title will not come in 2007.

After taking care of Caldwell County 6-1 in the first game Sunday afternoon at Garner High School, Wayne had high hopes of bringing home the big trophy. Post 11 ace Garrett Davis was on the mound, and the bats were working.

But it wasn't to be. Cherryville's Chris Henderson limited Wayne to two hits and struck out 12 as Post 100 beat Post 11 6-1 to claim another state title and head for the regional in Georgia.

In the who-would-have-believed-it department, both of Wayne's losses in the double elimination event came with Davis as the starting pitcher. In stark contrast to the run support the other starters received, Davis' teammates scored one run in his two games. He pitched 11 innings, allowing five runs, including three earned.

'Garrett didn't lose. We lost," said Wayne coach Brad Reaves."Give us a 5 or 7 game series and we beat anyone at the tourney. I'll take my second place team over any team there." Wayne finished its most successful season since 2004 with a 27-6 mark.

Henderson didn't display Davis' fastball but he did show a solid command of the strike zone and an ability to keep the Wayne batters off balance almost the entire game. "That's what he did," said Reaves. "He mixed it up and I think we were out of gas."

Henderson hit Jay Rose on a 3-2 pitch to open the second, and the Post 11 players sensed an opening.

But none developed. Wayne's next runner came in the fifth on a Thomas Pilkington single. He was quickly erased on a double play.

Davis came into the sixth having avoided giving up a run thanks to a pair of good defensive plays, and he looked ready to go deep into the game having thrown 64 pitches. But his good fortune soon left him.

With one out, Payden Houser singled up the middle. Steven Hoyle's grounder was misplayed to put runners on first and second. Houser advanced on a wild pitch, and Paul finger sent a breaking pitch through the left side for the first run. the runners advanced on a grounder.

Then Henderson helped his own cause by lining the first pitch to right centefield for another two runs. Davis fanned the next batter, but he had thrown 26 pitches that inning and was through.

Cherryville's hurlers are not under any constraints in the pitch count department, but Henderson was in good shape anyway. He would go the distance and throw 115 with only one inning of more than 16.

Jackson Massey took over in the seventh and retired the side in order, but he couldn't sustain it in the eighth. After the first two batters went down, Finger reached on a bloop double to right. Jake Watts scored him with a single to right. Watts stole second and came home on a hit by Henderson. Henderson went to second on an error and scored on Aaron Haynes' single to center. The last two hits came on 1-2 pitches. Sterling Price came in and got the final out.

Wayne clung to the hopes of a last-inning rally after pinch hitter Zack Wright reached on an error and Will Edgerton doubled to right. Henderson, however, was not to be denied. He fanned Massey on three breaking pitches. A run scored as Walker Gourley was safe on an error, and Henderson got the next batters to send the Post 100 team on the field to celebrate.

in the first game of the afternoon, Wayne got another chance at Jimmy Messer, this time with better results. The UNC-bound right-hander wasn't as sharp as in the tournament opener, allowing eight hits and walking three.

Wayne got on the board in the secon as John Wooten drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on Rose double and scored on Ham's ground out.

Massey continued to have a great tournament as he opened the third with a home run to center. Gourley doubled into the left field corner to make it 3-0.

That would turn out to be all Post 11 starter T.J. Hinson would need. He gave up a home run in the bottom of the inning to Shane Clawson but kept Post 29 at bay for the next five innings.

He twice started double plays on check-swing grounders to the mound. In the eighth, when he was running out of gas, he hit a batter and allowed a double off the left field fence by Daniel Coffey. But he got the next batter on a soft liner and ended the inning on a fly ball to the outfield.

Wayne got Hinson plenty of insurance runs in the seventh. Conner Narron reached on an infield hit and made it home when Messer threw away Nolan Lancaster's bunt. Lancaster got to third on the same play and scored on a passed ball.

Rose opened the eighth with his second home run of the season.

Wayne....AB..R..H..BI..........Caldwell..AB..R..H..BI
Massey rf..4..1..1..1..............Severt rf..4..0..1..0
Gourley ss..5..1..3..0............Clawson cf..5..1..1..1
Davis cf..3..0..1..1..................Chavis c..4..0..0..0
Edgerton lf ..2..0..0..0..........Craig 1b..2..0..1..0
Wooten 1b..4..1..1..0.............Coffey 3b..4..0..1..0
Rose dh-p..4..1..2..1..............Merrikan dh..4..0..1..0
Ham c..4..0..1..1.....................Hendrix 2b..3..0..1..0
Pilkington 3b..4..0..0..0........Shehan ss..3..0..0..0
Narron 2b..3..1..1..0..............Parham ph..1..0..0..0
Lancaster lf-cf 4..1..1..1.........Nelson lf..2..0..1..0
......................_______..........Hamby ph..1..0..0..0
.....................37..6..11..4..............................______
......................................................................33..1..7..1

Wayne....012...000...210 - 6..11..1
Caldwell..001...000...000 - 1..7..2


E-Pilkington, Messer, Shehan. DP Wayne 2, Caldwell 1.
LOB-Wayne 7, Caldwell 10.
2B-Rose, Gourley, Coffey. HR-Massey, Clawson. SB-Narron,
Davis. CS-Massey.

Wayne...IP..H..R..ER..BB..SO
Hinson (W)..8..7..1..1..3..2
Rose.............1..0..0..0..1..0
Caldwell
Messer (L)..7..8..5..4..3..4
Berry...........2..3..1..1..0..0
PB-Chavis. HBP-Craig (by Hinson).

Wayne..AB..R..H..BI.......Cherryville..AB..R..H..BI
Massey rf-p..4..0..0..0...Blake ss..4..0..0..0
Gourley ss..4..0..0..1......Houser..4..1..2..0
Wooten 1b..4..0..0..0......Hoyle ..4..1..0..0
Rose dh..2..0..0..0...........Finger 3b..4..2..3..1
Davis p-cf..1..0..0..0........Watts rf..4..1..2..1
Pilkington 3b..3..0..1..0...Henderson p..4..1..3..3
Narron 2b..3..0..0..0........Haynes c..2..0..1..1
Lancaster cf 2..0..0..0......Benson cf..3..0..0..0
Wright ph..1..0..0..0.........McSwain 2b..4..0..0..0
Gurley pr..0..1..0..0................................_______
.....................______...............................34..6..10..6
......................30..1..2..1

Wayne.........000...000...001 - 1..2..2
Cherryville..000...003...30x - 6..10..1

E-Gourley, Pilkington, Gourley, Blake. Wayne 1, Cherryville1.
LOB-Wayne 3, Cherryville 6.
2B-Henderson, Finger. SB-Watts. CS-Henderson.

Wayne..IP..H..R..ER..BB..SO
Davis (L)..6..7..3..1..0..5
Massey 1 2/3..4..3..2..1..2
Grice......1/3..0..0..0..0..0
Cherryville
Henderson (W)..9..2..1..0..0..12
WP-Davis. PB-Haynes. HBP-Rose (by Henderson).