Warren shuts down Saints in final 4 innings

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 2, 2014 1:48 PM

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Eastern Wayne's Tyler Warren didn't have command of his pitches early against county rival Southern Wayne on a warm, sun-splashed Tuesday afternoon.

His fastball sailed belt-high into the strike zone.

His breaking pitch didn't touch the corner on either side of the plate.

Even his change-up ran down the middle.

The Saints tagged the right-hander for three hits during the first two innings and put four runners on base. Luckily for Warren, his adversaries posted just one earned run on the scoreboard.

"He wasn't hitting his spots," EW head coach Jabo Fulghum said. "We called him over and said, 'Tyler if you don't hit spots, they're going to continue to do that.' Then he hit the spots. Today he was at a downhill angle throwing and if he does that, he's tough. He's not overpowering, but hitting spots is what pitching is all about."

"The game ball goes to Tyler."

And the win.

Warren retired the final 12 Saints he faced during a 7-1 victory in Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference play. The 5-foot-10 senior improved to 2-1 on the mound and recorded his second complete game of the season.

Tied at 1-1 through two innings, Warren got some working room in the third. Eastern Wayne manufactured five runs on three hits, three errors, a wild pitch and a balk.

The Saints never recovered.

"I felt really good after the first couple of innings," SW head coach Jackson Massey said. "We were hitting balls hard, just hitting right at them. Then we get down six runs and our whole approach to the game changes.

"Credit that guy (Warren) for making us look as bad as we did tonight."

Warren coaxed the Saints (4-8 overall, 0-6 ECC) into five groundouts, three lazy fly balls in foul territory behind first base and an infield pop-up during the final four innings. He struck out the side in the seventh as Eastern Wayne beat its county rival for the 19th time in 26 tries since 2004.

The teams combined for just eight hits -- three by the Saints and five by the Warriors. Ryan Kelly had two singles for Eastern Wayne, while teammate Ryan Faucette connected on an RBI double during the third-inning uprising.

The Warriors (6-6, 3-3) played flawless defense behind Warren. Freshman left fielder Tanner Wells gunned down a runner at the plate to end the third inning.

"They gave us some runs today, but we did hit some hard balls," Fulghum said. "When you hit hard balls, good things happen."