Eastern Wayne outlasts Kinston

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on April 3, 2008 1:50 PM

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Eastern Wayne plodded through five miserable innings Wednesday evening.

The sixth inning, however, was memorable. The Warriors erupted for nine runs and buried pesky Kinston 11-5 on the Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference baseball scene.

With the victory, Eastern Wayne (9-5 overall) remained tied atop the league standings at 4-1 with county archrival Charles B. Aycock. Kinston departed 1-12 in all games and 1-4 in the league.

The nine-day layoff seemed to affect the Warriors, who manufactured just one run off three hits and faced a two-run deficit through 51/2 innings.

"We were out in front of pitches and we were not patient," said Eastern Wayne head coach Jabo Fulghum. "We were swinging at some pitches we shouldn't have been swinging at. We were antsy."

That changed in the sixth.

Eastern Wayne roughed up Kinston starter Cody Heath and reliever Landon DeBruhl during its nine-run surge. John Wooten's grand slam, his first of the season, highlighted the 13-batter parade.

"I'm proud of our guys for coming back," Fulghum said. "You're not always going to get ahead to start with you've got to learn how to come back. Good teams find a way to win."

Wooten worked out of a tight spot in the fourth inning and saved starter Anthony Otellio. The right-hander entered with the Vikings ahead 2-1 with the bases loaded and two outs recorded in the scorebook.

Wooten struck out Brian Reynolds to end the threat. He yielded just one hit and notched six strikeouts in two-plus innings. His homer to center field tied the game at 1-1, and he ended the day with three hits and five RBI.

"John threw the ball well tonight, he threw the ball extremely well," Fulghum said. "I was proud of John tonight. He kept his fastball down for the most part. All of his pitches looked good."

Adron Hollowell threw the seventh.

Kinston built its early advantage on a bases-loaded walk, an infield error and Blake Herring's two-run, fourth-inning single. But the Vikings couldn't keep the momentum.

Cambric Moye complemented Wooten with a three-hit effort. Michael Mintz added two hits and two RBI.

The Warriors begin second-half ECC play at home Friday against Southern Wayne. Game time is 7 p.m.