Wayne County teams headed to state

By Rob Craig
Published in Sports on July 13, 2007 1:48 PM

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Coming off a mistake-filled contest on Wednesday, pitchers Dean Grady and Jimmy Kearney made sure Wayne County didn't suffer the same fate Thursday evening.

Grady threw six innings and Kearney tossed a scoreless seventh as Wayne County turned back Greene County 2-1 in game three of their best-of-three, Eastern N.C. Babe Ruth 15U District 4 championship series.

A Greene County miscue opened the door for Wayne County in the opening inning. Jimmy Joyner hit a lazy fly ball to center field, which was dropped. Donte Arthur trotted home for the 1-0 advantage.

Grady helped his own cause with a second-inning, RBI single. Silas Denlinger scored on the play and Grady, along with his defense, made the two-run advantage hold.

Greene County loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth inning. One runner scored and Kyle McLawhorn, who represented the game-tying run, tried to take home. But Wayne County catcher Travis Weaver held his ground and nailed McLawhorn at the plate to end the inning.

Kearney retired three of four batters in the seventh and earned the save.

Wayne County (2-1) clinched a berth in state tournament.

13-year-olds

Wayne County completed an unbeaten run through the ENC 13 District 4 tournament with a 12-1 shelling of Wilson County on the Eastern Carolina Athletic Park diamond.

Zach Grantham paced Wayne County (3-0) with four hits, while Derek Limbaugh and Benito Avila contributed two hits apiece.

Wilson County's pitching staff struggled with inconsistency and issued nine walks, which further stoked an already-potent Wayne County offense.

Meanwhile, Limbaugh fanned eight Wilson County batters and surrendered one run en route to his second postseason victory.