Jordan's birthday shutout leads C.B. Aycock

By Rob Craig
Published in Sports on May 16, 2007 1:48 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- In a unique twist, it was Emily Jordan who was giving out presents on her birthday.

The left-hander celebrated the day with a complete game shutout as well as three hits and two RBIs to give Charles B. Aycock a 7-0 win over Eastern Alamance in the opening round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A playoffs on Tuesday night.

Following the game, Jordan's teammates decided it was time to give Jordan their present -- an ice-cold shower from the water cooler.

"It was cold and I'm still feeling the birthday spankings," said a shivering Jordan. "It was a good birthday present."

The best present of the night though, came via the arm of the left-hander as she mowed down the Eagle hitters.

"I was real pleased with the way Emily pitched tonight," said Aycock coach David West. "She never really got herself into any trouble. It was a happy birthday shutout for her."

Jordan would strike out seven and allow four hits and one walk in seven innings to improve to 10-1 on the season.

"Everyone is 0-0 right now so we took it like we were playing the best team in North Carolina tonight," said Jordan.

Jordan's night was made all the easier as her teammates gave her an early lead to work with.

The Golden Falcons jumped on Eastern Alamance pitcher Kaci Kirby in the first inning with aggressive play on the bases.

With Brittany Ford standing on third and two outs, Rusti Talton legged out a double to bring her home. Talton then came home on a single by Shelly Lancaster to make it 2-0 Aycock.

The Golden Falcons kept tacking on runs in the inning as Jasmine Dobbin turned a sure double into a RBI triple with her speed and then came home on a wild pitch from Kirby to put Aycock ahead 4-0.

"I really liked the way we were running bases," said West, whose team stole seven bases for the game. "We were going from first to second just about whenever we wanted to. We knew we wanted to test their arms to start with and we did that."

The aggressive play wasn't exclusive to the base paths as the Aycock infielders and outfielders took every chance they saw to get an Eagles' baserunner out.

"That's just the competitiveness in the girls," said West. "We came up throwing behind the runners and in front of the runners. Anywhere they were relaxing we went after them."

Aycock would later add to its lead with two more runs on run-scoring hits by Jordan.

"I'm just hitting the ball right now," Jordan said. "I knew I needed to hit tonight and I didn't want to strike out. It always feels good to do good."

Aycock (21-5 overall) faces either South Central or Jacksonville White Oak on Friday night in the second round. West can only hope his team has the same attitude as it did on Tuesday night.

"I was pleased with the way we came out tonight," said West. "We didn't come out flat. We came out ready to win and took care of business."

E. Alamance 000 000 0 -- 0 4 3

C.B. Aycock 411 010 x -- 7 8 1

Leading hitters -- Eastern Alamance -- Kelsi Morgan 2-3. C.B. Aycock -- Emily Jordan 3-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Jasmine Dobbin 1-1, 2B, RBI; Rusti Talton 1-3, 2B, RBI; Shelly Lancaster 1-3, RBI.

DP -- E. Alamance 1, Aycock 1. LOB -- E. Alamance 5, Aycock 5. SB -- Pitt 2, Lee, Dobbin, J. Lancaster, Frederick, Farmer. S -- Graves, Smith.

IP H R ER BB SO

Eastern Alamance

Kirby (L) 6 8 7 5 2 6

C.B. Aycock

Jordan (W, 10-1) 7 4 0 0 1 7

WP -- Kirby 3. PB -- Talton.