BASEBALL: Whaley deals, Golden Falcons dominate Warriors

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on March 2, 2017 10:14 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- Five minutes into Wednesday's game, Charles B. Aycock's Cody Whaley committed one of baseball's worst sins -- walking the lead-off batter.

That batter -- Hunt's Connor Griffin -- eventually scored.

Whaley didn't enjoy giving up that run. He disliked it so much that he didn't allow another Warrior to reach first base.

With the Golden Falcons' bats providing insurance, Whaley struck out six batters and guided CBA to an 11-1 run-rule victory over Hunt.

"I was proud of Cody (Whaley)," said CBA head coach Charles Davis. "He walks the lead-off batter -- that's a no-no. And that guy scores. But that was probably his only negative the whole day."

In that first inning, Hunt's Thomas Helms hit an RBI groundout to score Griffin. After that hit, Whaley struck out six of the next seven batters he faced, including five straight at one point.

Luke Frederick relieved Whaley in the fifth inning.

Davis said that he tells all of his pitchers to pound the strike zone, pitch to contact and not walk batters. Whaley checked off each of those boxes Wednesday night.

"Number one, he doesn't get rattled," Davis said. "...and even when he gets behind in the count sometimes, he can throw his curveball and change-up for a strike and that's a key right there. I just like his composure on the mound. He doesn't get upset or anything.

"He doesn't show a lot of emotion."

While Whaley dealt from the mound, Aycock's explosive bats tortured Hunt's pitchers.

The Golden Falcons immediately snatched the lead after a pair of RBI singles by Chandler Matthews and Blake Gipson in the first inning.

In the second inning, CBA boosted its lead to 7-1 after a three-run homer by Bradley Pate and a two-RBI single by Gipson. Matthews and Nolan Harrell finished off Hunt in the bottom of the fifth. Harrell smashed a two-run shot to right field and Matthews ended the game with a two-RBI single.

"I thought our at-bats were very good," Davis said. "We did a good job of putting the ball in play. Even when we got behind in the count, we worked it back into full-count favor, and we did a very good job with two-strike hitting."

Pate and Matthews each finished 3-for-3 with three RBI. Gipson and Harrell both went 2-for-3 with three and two RBI, respectively. The Golden Falcons totaled 14 hits.

This is the sixth consecutive year that CBA has opened the season with a victory -- just another day at the office for Davis and the Golden Falcons.

"Any time you open up the season with a win, you are pleased," Davis said. "I thought we were really good in the batter's box today and concentrated on what we needed to do."