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School Sports
Fleming fadeaway Post 13 stunned by Edgecombe By Brad Howell | Daily Times Staff Writer The Wilson American Legion Post 13 baseball team entered Tuesday night's game against Edgecombe County Post 316 on cruise control, but the ride inexplicably came to a crashing halt. Post 13 -- winner of five straight coming into the game -- fell to Edgecombe 4-1 in Fleming Stadium to conclude play in the Area One East Division's North Conference. The loss virtually erases any chance for Wilson to win the conference. Post 13 struggled in all aspects of the game while Edgecombe took advantage of every opportunity that arose in halting a 14-game losing streak after opening the season with two wins. "They did a good job," Post 13 head coach Rusty Dail said. "They hit the ball on the ground to make us make plays and we couldn't make them -- couldn't throw, couldn't catch and all we did at the plate was pop the ball up." Wilson (16-4, 6-2) committed two errors, both of which led to runs in the pivotal fourth inning when Post 316 struck for all four runs. Starting pitcher Justin Nygard (5-1) issued a one-out walk to Parker Stallings and a tailor-made double play ball was then thrown into the outfield to put runners on the corners. After another walk loaded the bases, Gray Smith reached on an error to put Post 316 on the board. Nygard uncorked a wild pitch to allow another run to score, but seemed to settle down recording another strikeout for the second out. He then quickly got ahead of leadoff man Nick Wells no balls, two strikes, but the third pitch caught too much of the plate and Wells fought it off into center field for a two-run single. "We weren't ready," he continued. "I guess we thought that since we beat them so bad the first time we could beat them again." Post 13's pitching was sharp outside of the fourth, striking out 14 Post 316 batters on the night. Nygard struck out nine over five innings. Jeremy Efird (IP, K), Bentley Massey (2 IP, 4K) and William Prince (1 IP) also saw work. But the hands-down pitching star was Edgecombe's right-hander A.J. Peaks, who went the distance for his first victory. Peaks attacked Post 13's lineup with a simple fastball-changeup combination that induced 14 fly ball outs. He walked just one batter and struck out three. "My arm felt great but my body was a little tired in the ninth," Peaks said. "They couldn't hit my off-speed pitch. Every time I threw a fastball they got a base hit, but they couldn't do much with the changeup." Wilson scratched out its lone run in the final inning on Zach Moore's sacrifice fly. Peaks got Jerome Richardson, who represented the tying run, to fly out to end the game. Post 13 recorded no extra-base hits and left 10 runners stranded. Catcher Chris Lamm and center fielder David Gibbons both singled twice to lead the team. "We couldn't string two hits together," Lamm said. "We'd get one and then we'd start popping up. I really don't know what we were thinking. We hit a lot of balls in the air and we really shouldn't be doing that. You got to hit the ball on the ground and make them play it." Edgecombe head coach Charles Johnson was proud of how his team for snapping its skid. "It feels great for the boys," Johnson said with a sigh of relief. "We've picked up a win here and there in our two years but this is the first good ballgame we've played for nine innings. I was proud of them and they needed a win like that." Dail, meanwhile, was left scratching his head. "We didn't look good at all tonight," he said. "It was like I'd never seen this team play before ... I don't know where this comes from." Post 13 will try to find some answers Thursday when it hosts Pitt County Post 39 at 7 p.m. in Fleming. bhowell@wilsontimes.com | 265-7879
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