BASEBALL: CBA's Davis has mixed reactions after win

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on April 5, 2017 9:57 AM

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Charles B. Aycock head varsity coach Charles Davis has been around the block.

He's seen good baseball and he knows when his team is hitting well. So he wasn't fooled by C.B. Aycock's 9-0 victory over Eastern Wayne Tuesday night.

Sure, the Golden Falcons may have gotten nine hits and shut out their rival. But Davis was more focused on the fact that his team struck out 14 times.

"That's not very good. That's striking out two-thirds of the time," Davis said. "We've got to do a much better job of putting the ball in play. It's simple as that. We're fortunate that pitching was good and our defense was good."

EW's Tanner Wells struck the first four C.B. Aycock batters. In the second inning, the Golden Falcons loaded the bases after a hit and two walks. Then Wells struck out Joey Hampton to end the frame.

Though it wasn't the best start, CBA eventually found comfort in the batter's box.

Bradley Pate scored on a wild pitch in the third frame, while Chris Turner and Tyler Daniels each added an RBI. In the fourth, Blake Gipson slammed an RBI single. Then in the fifth, the Golden Falcons exploded for five runs off four hits.

"We hit a few balls that they couldn't get to," Davis said. "It's a win we needed. We really do."

The lighting rod behind those big three innings may have been more about the base running and not the hitting. The Golden Falcons stole 10 total bases, and weren't close to being caught. The aggressive movement continued to put runners in scoring position.

"That's the best base running team we've seen all year," said EW head coach Walker Gourley. "They continued to put pressure on us and ran the bases smart. And I think we felt that pressure, and that kind of hurried some plays for us in some situations."

After the onslaught in those middle innings, CBA only had one base runner in the sixth and the seventh, and struck out three more times.

Chandler Matthews (RBI) and Gipson (three RBI) led the team with two hits apiece. Golden Falcons' pitcher Cody Whaley went six innings, allowed one hit and struck out nine batters.

Davis said the team will continue to do the same things in practice as far as hitting goes. The approaches at the plate are a major concern for Davis going forward this season.

"I mean I'm at a loss right now," Davis said. "It's like I told them, the way you don't strike out is don't get two strikes on you. Hit the first good pitch you see and then you don't have to worry about striking out. So I guess that'll be our approach."