Post 11 Escapes With Win

Box is here. Season stats are here.

Wayne County Post 11 has won more than 700 American Legion baseball games. This one had to have been one of the ugliest.

In a bizarre game in which it didn't hit the ball out of the infield after the third inning, Wayne (21-5) moved within one win of a berth in the American Legion state tournament with a 3-2 win over New Bern on the road Friday night. Post 11 can lock up the Area I East title with a victory tonight at home.

Clayton took a 12-2 seven-inning victory over Durham in game 2 of their Area I West chmpionship series. Clayton is unbeaten in the postseason and can end the series tonight at home. Campbell University pitcher Colin Parker went the distance for Clayton.

For the second straight game, pitching-depleted New Bern got everything it could ask for from its starter as rising sophomore Grey Davis went the distance and limited the Post 11 offense to five hits and a walk

But it wasn't enough.

In a series that has defied expectations, the pitchers have dominated the action, and Wayne countered with an effective performance from its own hurler. Adron Hollowell went seven innings and allowed six hits and a walk before giving way to reliable reliever Jay Rose.

As a result, New Bern (15-10) finds itself in a position of ending the season for the second straight year one series short of its first-ever league championship.

"I hate to see either pitcher lose," remarked Wayne coach Brad Reaves. "It was an ugly game. Each team seemed to be playing to give it away."

Davis kept the Post 11 batters off balance throughout the game by skillfully mixing his pitchers. Many a Post 11 player returned to the dugout talking to himself and wondering why he swung at an offering that almost - or did - land in the dirt.

"Best game he has ever pitched," New Bern coach Gary Smith said. "Grey has had a tendency over the past year to pitch well against inferior opponents or when things are going well. When things get tight, he gets tight and doesn't pitch very well. But that's the best team he has ever pitched against. I can't ask him to do any more than to hold them to three runs."

New Bern grabbed the lead by scoring both its runs in the second. Gabe Brown doubled to left centerfield to open the inning and moved to third as Matt Hardeman singled up the middle. Cam Holton brought home a run with a hit to shallow center. Wayne put on a pickoff play, and catcher Zach Wright caught Holton hanging off first. Post 11 was on the verge of getting out of the inning without further damage when second baseman Walker Gourley made a diving stab of Erick Kosco's grounder and threw him out from the knees. But Rod Sawyer came through with a hit on a 2-0 fastball for another run.

Nolan Lancaster started the Wayne fifth by reaching on one of his team's three infield hits. Bryant Hill bunted him to second, and he stole third. Alex Casey fought off a 1-2 breaking pitch, sending it to third and bringing home Lancaster.

Wayne took the lead in the next inning. John Wooten was safe on a roller down the third base line with one out. Davis knocked down Jay Rose's grounder but threw it under the tarp behind first to put runners on second and third. Wright tied it with a grounder to short, and Rose came home on a passed ball.

Post 11 would have one runner the remainder of the game, so it was up to the pitchers to hold on to the precarious lead. They were up to the task.

Brett Williams drew a leadoff walk in the home sixth and stole second. Hollowell retired the next batter on a fly ball but Williams moved to third on a strikeout throw to first. Shortstop Tyler Edwards speared a sinking liner at him to end the inning.

New Bern was against frustrated in the seventh. Eric Kosco reached on an error when Gourley threw away a routine grounder to open the inning. He took second when Wright's pickoff throw sailed past the first baseman. Hollowell came through again, this time with a strikeout and a weak grouder back to the mound. He finished it by getting a grounder to Wooten at third to end his night.

Rose took over the rest of the way He allowed a two-out double to Brown in the eighth but got the third out on a foul out. New Bern went down in order in the ninth.

Wayne's night began well enough when Gourley lined a one-out extra base hit into the right field corner. He was on his way to third base when play was halted. The culprit? A teammate who was in the area didn't realize the ball was in play, so he caught it with his cap. Walker advanced to third on Wooten's first infield hit but was stranded on an inning-ending double play.

New Bern had a 7-5 edge in hits, and the teams had 17 runners.