After drubbing the first-half South Division champion Florence RedWolves 7-0 in Fleming Stadium, the Tobs are finally starting to believe in themselves.
Wilson ace Tim Adleman delivered a strong start and the offense picked him up, scoring at least one run in five straight innings to lift the Tobs to their third consecutive victory.
It was just the second time the Tobs have won three straight this season. Wilson is now 2-0 in the second half and will try and make it four wins in a row tonight in Fayetteville. The Tobs haven't achieved the feat since July of 2006.
The win marked the second straight shutout by the Tobs after Steven Evans pitched a three-hitter in a 9-0 win at Fayetteville on Tuesday. Wilson has just three shutouts all year and Adleman has started in two of them.
"That's exactly the formula we need to be successful. Another night of quality starting pitching and timely hitting," Tobs manager Jeff Steele said. "Two straight shutouts...that's outstanding."
Adleman (5-0) struck out six, allowed four hits and walked one in eight innings of work. Of the 24 outs he recorded, 15 were fly balls.
"I just went out there and threw strikes and the guys picked me up," Adleman reviewed. "You have to try and make them put the ball in play and the defense worked for me today."
Florence manager Wes Davis was not pleased with his team's approach across the board.
"Adleman threw well, but whenever you give away 12 bases (10 walks, two errors) and pop up 17 times, you're not going to win baseball games," he said.
The RedWolves' struggles helped the Tobs, who did not have an extra-base hit. However, the damage could have been worse as the Tobs stranded at least two men on base seven times and 14 in all.
Cody Hawn scored on a passed ball in the second inning to open the scoring and added an RBI single in the third. Matt Sanders also scored on an error in the frame to make it 3-0.
Wilson kept the pressure on by scoring in each of the next three innings.
"It's great to get the lead early, but tacking on runs in the middle innings makes it a lot easier on everybody because you have room to breathe," Steele said.
Hawn, Sanders and Justin Parks each had two hits to lead the Tobs. Shortstop Packy Elkins singled and reached base five times.
Paul Bertuccini pitched a perfect ninth in relief of Adleman. Bobby Doran (2-4) took the loss after allowing four runs in three innings.
The Tobs finished the first half 12-15, but the hot start to the second half has the team rejuvenated.
"It's night and day from where we started this year," Sanders said. "Hopefully we can just keep up what we're doing -- keep winning.
"The way the CPL is set up you can just flush the first half and we have an opportunity to pretty much start a new season."
Hawn said the team is starting to gel now that all of the players have arrived. Pitcher Brian Moran is the final missing piece. The left-hander from UNC Chapel Hill is expected to join the team today.
"We finally got everybody and we're starting to get used to playing together," Hawn said. "We don't have a lot of new guys anymore and the ones that we do are fitting in really well."
Steele hopes the Tobs can find a way to maintain the high morale.
"I hope they have a little bit of an arrogance and know that they can win," he said. "They're off to a good start in the second half, but, you're only as good as your last game."
bhowell@wilsontimes.com | 265-7879