Pitt 39 Hands Wayne Second Straight Defeat

Box is here. Stats will come tomorrow. It's past 1;30.

Wayne County Post 11 coach Brad Reaves didn't sound that concerned despite seeing his team drop its second game in as many days.

"It was one of those nights," he said. "They hit 'em where we weren't and we hit 'em where they were."

Pitt County Post 39 (2-0, 5-2) dropped Wayne to 1-2 in Area I East South Division play and 6-2 overall with a 9-2 win at Pitt County Community College Tuesday night. Wayne will travel to New Bern High School Saturday night for a game against New Bern Post 24.

As with the loss against New Bern a night earlier, Wayne found itself in an early hole. But unlike the previous game, there would not be a comeback.

Post 11 starter Michael Douglas retired the first two batters in the second only to have Pitt string together six straight hits to take a 4-0 lead. Josh Hudson and Tanner Merritt hit consecutive doubles for the first run, and Douglas had Patrick Roy 0-2 before leaving a breaking pitch over the plate. Roy slapped it throught the left side of the infield for a run. An infield hit, a bloop single to left and Clark Massey's RBI single to right gave Pitt all the runs it would need.

Wayne turned two double plays over the next three innings to help Douglas out of more trouble.

Pitt starter Paul McIntosh effectively mixed his fastball and curve to keep Wayne off the scoreboard for the four innings he was on the mound. He allowed three hits, and didn't walk or strike out anyone. The three Post39 hurlers didn't register a strikeout but needed only 88 pitches to get through the first eight innings.

Two errors and a single to shallow center by Trey Styons gave Pitt a six-run lead in the sixth. Post 39 added three in the seventh. Daniel Boyd singled to start the inning, stole second and scored on a double by Chase Hardee. After a walk to Hudson, Merritt drove in Hardee with a hit to center. The final run scored as a grounder by Styons was being misplayed, one of six Wayne errors. Pitt stranded the potential game-ending run at second as John Wooten retired the next two batters on a foul out and a strikeout.

Pitt seemed poised to end the game in the eighth. Boyd's fly bal to right was dropped for a three-base error. Wooten fell behind Hardee 3-1 but got him on a ball back to the mound. He retired the next two batters on grounders to third to give Post 11 a chance at avoiding the shutout.

They made good on it. Reliever Aaron Roberson, who had entered the game in the fifth, got two outs on fly balls but couldn't finish the deal. Wooten doubled to right centerfield, and Thomas Pilkington singled up the middle for a run. Cambric Moye doubled to right to end Roberson's time on the mound. And in a fitting conclusion to the affair, Bryant Hill lined out to second. Wayne had five lineouts, including one that doubled a runner off first.

"It's early," said Reaves. "You can't win the league now. We're just trying to settle into a lineup and define some roles, so it's going to take a while."