Day 1 at Ashley Spring Break Tourney: Walston is Dominant
April 16, 2019
PBR was on the road on Monday for the first spring break action of 2019. Tim Hower of Coastal Preps is on and reporting on the action throughout the week. On Day 1, PBR Scouting Director Brandon Hall was on hand as well. Below, Tim recaps each of the 4 games from Monday. Brandon will update the scout blog in the coming days with in-depth player reports from each game.
Day 1: Ashley Spring Break Tournament
Brunswick CC commit Ashton Evans and Drew Tyndall combined to throw the first perfect game in school history and the Screaming Eagles had six extra base hits in the lopsided victory.
Evans pitched the first four innings, striking out five without a walk on 45 pitches. Tyndall finished the game off with a fly out and back-to-back strikeouts.
“It was in the back of my mind, but I was trying not to think about it too much,” Evans said.The Screaming Eagles got two-run, two-out singles from Michael Brannin and Branton Jernigan in the bottom of the second inning. Jernigan also came around to score on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 5-0.
Swails and Brannin each had two hits.
Annandale fell to 3-9 with the loss.
NEW HANOVER 7, GARNER 0
Walston, an N.C. State commit, finished with 71 pitches (52 for strikes). He whiffed the first five batters he faced and had at least two in each of the first five innings.
New Hanover (14-0) provided him with more than enough offense. UNCW commit Jac Croom led off the bottom of the first inning with a single up the middle and scored what turned out to be the winning run on a wild pitch.
The top four hitters in the New Hanover lineup – Croom, Walston, Smith and N.C. Central commit Alex Sniffen – went a combined 8-for-15 with four runs.
Garner (10-7) didn’t have a hit through five innings, but finished with one a piece from Kaden Brown and Michael Hamling.
Charlotte commit Vito Patierno tied the game up with a two-out, two run double in the top of the seventh inning and came around to scoring the winning run on a single up the middle from Wake Tech commit Cole Cunningham to send the Huskies into the semifinals.
Heritage (13-3) nine-hole hitter Whit Kane led off the inning with an infield single and stole second and third bases. With two outs, Campbell commit Cameron O’Brien worked a walk. Facing an 0-1 count, Patierno found the gap in right-center field to even the score.
The Huskies will take on East Forsyth in the first semifinal Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
Laney (10-6) scored both runs in the fifth inning. Brooks Byers reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on a single from freshman Connor Kane. Griffin Sandstrum walked and scored on an error.
EAST FORSYTH 3, HOGGARD 0
Evans, who was committed to Winston-Salem St. before they decided to drop their program, struck out the first five batters he faced. He finished with 94 pitches, including 63 for strikes.
“I usually know before a game if I’m on and today I felt amazing,” Evans said. “It was one of my best games location wise.”
“We’ve done four years of spring break tournaments and we’ve played the very first game every year, which is what I like,” East Forsyth coach Drew Dull said. “My guys know that if they win Game 1 they get to sleep in the rest of spring break and that’s always my pitch to them.”
TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE
Tim Hower publishes Coastal Preps, a website dedicated to high school sports in the Wilmington and Brunswick County area. You can see more of his coverage at www.coastalpreps.com.