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.