Post 11 rolls past Edgecombe County

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on July 11, 2008 1:50 PM

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If Thursday evening's contest is any indication Edgecombe County has its hands full.

Left-hander Adron Hollowell took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and Wayne County Post 11 erupted for 10 runs in the third inning and hammered Edgecombe County 18-2 in seven innings in the opening game of a best-of-three Area I East playoff series.

Game Two is at 7 p.m. today at Indian Lake Sports Complex in Tarboro.

Nolan Lancaster's two-run homer in the bottom of the second starting Post 11's scoring.

Wayne County sent 13 batters to the plate in the home half of the third while tallying eight hits and pushing 10 runs across. Thomas Pilkington pushed the lead to 4-0 with a two-run single to center.

Zach Wright scored on an error, an Alex Casey's bunt single and an ensuing error plated three more runs. Walker Gourley tacked on a two-run double and John Wooten and Wright added RBI's extending the cushion to 12-0.

"We told them early they were going to have to 'think middle, think middle,'" Wayne County head coach Brad Reaves said. "I think Nolan got us going and everybody else kind of followed suit."

Lancaster and Casey trotted home on wild pitches in the fourth and Tyler Edwards added a solo homer putting Edgecombe County in a 15-0 hole.

Hollowell set down Edgecombe County in order in the first and second innings. The Eastern Wayne product used an inning-ending double play to put to rest Edgecombe County's hopes of a rally in the third and worked around a two-out error in the fourth.

With one out in the fifth Hollowell surrendered back-to-back homers ending his bid at a no-hitter. Hollowell allowed two runs on two hits, one strikeout and a walk in five innings of work. Jesse Randolph tossed the final two innings in relief.

"I don't mind the home runs," Reaves said. "I told him, 'son, you're up 12 runs now or whatever it was then, pour it in there and let's see what happens. As a pitcher that's what he's supposed to do. Adron needed a good outing and he had a good outing."

Cambric Moye pitched in an RBI double in the fifth. Matt Hunichen's RBI single and a run-scoring wild pitch in the sixth capped Post 11's offensive onslaught.

Moye finished the evening 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Edwards (2 RBI), Gourley (2 RBI), Wooten (RBI), Hill and Casey (RBI) each collected two hits.

Putting Edgecombe County away tonight and avoiding a potential season-ending Game Three on Saturday was the focus of Post 11's postgame discussion on Thursday evening.

Rosewood product Taylor Allen will start on the mound for Wayne County.

"I told them, 'guys, they don't play them in the papers," Reaves said. "I told them, 'we've got the top seed for a reason, let's send a message why we got the top seed.' The kids pretty much responded. I just told them we want to go ahead and take care of business and anything can happen. It is very important with our (pitching) situation to get as much rest as we can."