South Lenoir advances to Avery title game

By Bryan C. Hanks
Kinston Free Press

AYDEN - After only a year's absence, South Lenoir will again play for the Ray Avery Easter Baseball Championship.

The Blue Devils earned the right to play for their third title in four years by defeating fellow East Central 2A conference foe Croatan, 3-1, on Monday. They'll face Williamston, the 2003 Avery champion, at 8 p.m. today at Ayden-Grifton.

"We've been coming over here for 10 years and it gets better every time," SL coach Troy Eason said. "Our fans seem to like it and at least we're not sitting at home.

On a chilling night in Ayden, South Lenoir (9-0) only managed a total of two hits by Lee Taylor and Braxton Lewis, but neither knock factored into the runs scored by the Blue Devils. Garrett Jones scored in the second inning on a bases-loaded walk to Trey Smith.

In the sixth inning, a pair of junior varsity players helped provide the winning margin. Sophomore pinch-runner Everett Charlton scored when sophomore Ty Eason, the son of the coach, lined the ball to centerfield. Because of a swirling wind, Croatan outfielder Tyler Olkowski misjudged the ball and committed an error when the ball glanced off his glove, scoring Charlton.

Pinch-hitter Brad Hunter later scored in the frame when Smith's sacrifice fly sent him home. The sacrifice gave Smith an interesting statistical line as he finished 0-for-2 with two RBIs.

The hero for South Lenoir was Lewis, a senior pitcher. He went the distance for the Blue Devils, striking out 10 and walking five while only giving up four hits. The run against Lewis was earned.

"Braxton threw the ball extremely well for us," Eason said. "He's our leader. He wanted to finish and I let him finish. He battled well tonight. He batted against the umpire tonight, who was very inconsistent. He battled some stupid plays by us, too."

Croatan junior southpaw pitcher Aaron Stull also turned in a gutsy performance, striking out eight, walking eight and hitting one batter while only giving up two South Lenoir hits. Only one of the three runs Stull surrendered were earned.

"He was a quality pitcher," Eason said. "We struggled against him at times. We haven't played anyone as good as him this year."

John David Jackson led Croatan with two hits and three stolen bases. The Cougars play host Ayden-Grifton at 5 p.m. today in the third-place game.

Williamston 13, Ayden-Grifton 0 (five innings)

Williamston advanced to just its second championship game in the tournament's 12-year history. The game was halted after five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

Williamston laced nine hits and took advantage of an inability to find the plate by three Charger pitchers (six walks, two hit batters).

The Tigers scored in every inning but the fifth, built an early 5-0 lead, and then buried A-G with an eight-run fourth.

In that decisive frame, the Tigers managed just three hits, but were the beneficiaries of two Charger errors, three bases on balls, and two hit batsman.

"We're a young team and we've been very inconsistent so far this season," said A-G coach Chris Ross, whose team fell to 4-6. "We've had some good games and some bad games. This one was definitely bad."

The Chargers managed just two hits against Williamston starter Josh Warren, a first-inning double by Geronnie Gray, and an opposite field single in the third by Corey Williams.

The Tigers, who whipped Pamlico 12-1 in Saturday's opening round, have outscored the first two opponents by a combined 25-1 count.

Pamlico 5, Jones Senior 2

After a 5-0 start, the Trojans lost their fifth straight to fall to 5-5. Ruffin Koonce and Tyler Lee had two hits each and Nick Smith had Jones Senior's lone RBI.

Pamlico was paced by a 4-for-4 performance by Aaron Watson. Greg Moye was 2-for-2 with two RBIs for the Hurricanes.

Trevor Holton was the winning pitcher by spreading eight hits over seven innings in his complete-game effort. He struck out five and walked none in an efficient 68-pitch outing.

North Pitt 1, Farmville Central 0

Panthers pitcher Cameron Rollins threw a no-hitter to earn the win. The Panthers will play Pamlico at 2 p.m. today in the fifth-place game, while Farmville Central will face Jones Senior in the seventh-place game at 11 a.m.

Posted by: North Carolina

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