The first round of the annual Wayne Country Day Charger Classic got under way today with three games being played under somewhat threatening skies and windy conditions. The event, under the direction of Wayne Country Day athletic director and baseball coach Michael Taylor has become a tradition among the Easter/spring break high school tournaments involving NCISAA teams in North Carolina.

Three games were played today as inclement weather is forecast forcing the originally scheduled three day affair to squeezed into two. This year instead of a tournament format the four teams will play three games apiece with all the squads playing each other.

The first contest today saw North Raleigh wallop Halifax Academy by an 18-1 score. Wayne Christian then defeated Halifax 7-2 in the tournament’s second game and North Raleigh rolled by Wayne Country Day 14-3 in the nightcap.

In the Wayne Christian – Halifax matchup, Wayne Christian’s Jaxon Anderson led the Eagles to a 7-2 win. Anderson got the win on the mound scattering five hits and and added a two run homer as well. He went the distance for the win striking out six and walked three.

Wayne Christian got on the scoreboard early scoring twice in the bottom of the first. Will White walked, took second on a passed ball and stole third. Hunter Burt’s single to left plated White with the games first run. Burt stole second, went to third on aa infield out and and scampered home on a passed ball.

And both runners moved over on a passed ball.

The Eagles stretched their lead to 5-0 with three more runs in the bottom of the third. White opened the frame with a single and Anderson followed with a home run over the short porch in right center. Burt followed with his second hit of the game and moved to second on a passed ball. Two outs later Ryan Kennedy’s basehit to left drove Burt home with their fifth run of the contest.

Halifax scored their first tally in their half of the fourth. Logan King drew a walk but was forced at second on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Reid Lynch.Zack Edwards was hit by an Anderson pitch and Larry West followed with a bloop single to left scoring Lynch.

Wayne Christian added a pair of insurance tallies in the sixth. Corbett Schaefer walked with one out forcing Halifax coach Tony Herman to replace starter Brandon Moody with Ryan Mizelle. Seth Harrell greeted Mizelle with a base hit up the middle. Will White then hit a chopper to third that the Viking 3B fielded and over threw first allowing both runners to race home.

Halifax mounted a mild threat in the top of the seventh. Eric Hockaday beat out a ground abll to second for an infield hit. Two outs later Eric Dail’s infield grounder was bobbled by the WCS 3B sending Hockaday home with the Vikes second run of the contest. Logan King alos reaced on an error putting runners on first and third but Anderson bore down striking out Kal Liles to end both the rally and the game.

Jaxon Anderson got the pitching win for Wayne Christian (3-4) while Brandon Moody took the loss for Halifax (1-8). Offensively Will White 2-2 and Hunter Burt 2-3 led the Eagles with Anderson adding his home run. Larry West 2-3 and Eric Hockaday 2-4 paced Halifax.

WAYNE CHRISTIAN 7

HALIFAX ACADEMY 2

HAL : 0-0-0-1-0-0-1---2-5-1---10 LOB

WCS : 2-0-3-0-0-2-x—7-6-2---4 LOB

PITCHING

Wayne Christian

Jaxon Anderson (W)..7 IP, 5 H,2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 3 HP

Halifax

Brandon Moody (L).. 5 1/3 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 6 BB, 9 K

Ryan Mizelle 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 K, 0 BB

HITTING

Halifax..Larry West 2-3, Eric Hockaday 2-4, Reid Lynch 1-3

Wayne Christian..Will White 2-2, Hunter Burt 2-3, Ryan Kennedy 1-3, Seth Harrell 1-3, Jaxon Anderson 1-4 (HR)

In the North Raleigh – Wayne Country Day contest the Knights took advantage of ten walks and two hit batsmen from six WCD pitchers in rolling to a 14-3 win in a five inning affair shortened by the 10 run mercy rule. The Knights could manage but eight hits but all came at crucial times producing runs.

North Raleigh jumped on WCDS starting pitcher Armane Godo for two runs in the top of the first. Michael Caveney opened the game with a walk and one out later moved to third on a Drake Harris single. Ben Tillery;s double in the left center alley plated both runners and Tillery himself crossed the plate shortly thereafter on a Joseph Powell sacrifice and a wild pitchstaking the Knights to an early 3-0 advantage.

Wayne Country Day staged a brief comeback in their half of the frame. Leadoff man Mitch Turnage drilled NRCA starting pitcher Dakota Risley’s third pitch over the right center fence for a home run and Case Kermode followed with a walk. But Risley then took over retiring the next three Charger batters in order and WCDS would be unable to narrow the gap the remainder of the contest.

North Raleigh increased their lead to 5-1 in the third. Trent Harris singled and Drake Harris then took Charger relief pitcher Patrick Hall deep blasting a home run to right.

The wheels came off the Charger bus in the fourth when North Raleigh as they pushed across three more tallies on only one hit. Walks to Caleb Bane and Trevor Kirk and an error on Jared Bocanegra’s Sacrifice bunt loaded the bases with no one out. Michael Caveney’s singles up the middle and a drake Harris sacrifice fly accounted for three more Knight scores pushing the lead to 8-1.

Wayne Country Day was able to push across a single run in their half of the inning. Turnage and Kermode had back to back singles and were sacrificed over by Patrick Hall. John Strickland was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. Risley seemed to be on his way to getting out of the inning after striking out Godo . Jacob Magera then lifted an routine infield pop fly that was dropped by the NRCA 2B allowing Turnage to score.

In the fifth control problems by the Charger pitching staff led to North Raleigh plating five runs to salt the game away. With one out WCD pitcher Mitch Turnage issued consecutive walks to Kirk, Bocanegra and Caveney to load the bases. Trent Harris hit into a fielder’s choice , scoring Kirk. Drake Harris followed with a two run double and Benjamin Tillery then blasted a two run homer clering the bases. A joseph Powell single, a hit batter and two more walks produced the final run.

Wayne Country Day scored their final tally in the bottom of the fifth as John Strickland walked off NRCA relief pitcher Drake Harris, stole second and scored on a pair of wild pitches but it was a matter of too little too late.

Dakota Risley got the win for North Raleigh going four innings, allowing four hits and fanning two. Armane Godo, the first of six Wayne Country Day pitchers was saddled with the loss. On the offensive end Drake Harris led North Raleigh (7-3) going 3-3 with a homer and four RBIs. Benjamin Tillery also had four RBIs going 2-3 with a homer. Mitch Turnage’s 2-3 paced Wayne Country Day (5-4-1).

Barring inclement weather here is today’sschedule :

11:00 - North Raleigh vs. Wayne Christian

1:30 - Halifax vs WCDS

4:00 - WCDS vs. Wayne Christian

North Raleigh Christian 14

Wayne Country Day 3

NRC : 3-0-2-3-5---14-8-2---7 LOB

WCD : 1-0-1-0-1----3-4-2—6 LOB

PITCHING

North Raleigh

Dakota Risley (W) 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Drake Harris 1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Wayne Country Day

Armane Godo (L) 1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Patrick Hall 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Case Kermode 0 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HB

Mitch Turnage 1 1/3 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 1 HB

John Strickland 1/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 K

Jake Magera 1/3 IP 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K

HITTING

North Raleigh..Drake Harris 3-3 (HR,2B, 4 RBI), Benjamin Tillery 2-3 (HR, 2B 4 RBI), Joseph Powell 1-2, Michael Caveney 1-3, Trent Harris 1-4.

Wayne Country Day..Mitch Turnage 2-3 (HR), Jon Bryan 1-1, Case Kermode 1-2.