By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
CENTRE – After losing their first two baseball games of the season to Lincoln and Gadsden City, the Cherokee County Warriors needed a little extra Mayo on the mound against Jacksonville to get in the win column on Wednesday.
Sophomore pitcher Cam Mayo tossed a complete game, scattering four hits and a walk with eight strikeouts in a 1-0 victory. He appeared to get stronger for the Warriors (1-2) as the game progressed.
“I found my mechanics as the game went on and locked them in,” he said. “My stuff felt good. I told them all I need is one (run). I believe in my guys and I know they’ve got my back when I’m pitching.”
Cherokee County head coach Josh Decker said Mayo competed and dug down deep against the Golden Eagles (1-3).
“We usually keep the pitch count low, but he felt good,” Decker said. “Cam’s a guy who’s worked his tail off this off-season, from the time we ended last April until now. He’s put in the work. He had a good night, a good pitch mix. He commanded the zone well and kept them off-balance. I couldn’t be prouder of him.”
After both teams’ offenses went scoreless through four innings, the Warriors finally pushed a run across in the bottom of the fifth with two outs. They were aided by three Golden Eagle errors.
With one out, five-hole hitter James Hunter reached on an error at third. Jace Betterton came in to pinch run for Hunter. Evan Hill then reached on an error at second. After Owen Jacoway popped up to short for the second out, designated hitter Daniel Neyman delivered a grounder to deep short, which was bobbled and allowed Betterton to score.
“Daniel Neyman is a guy who hasn’t been in the lineup until now. We’ve got two down with the flu,” Decker said. “We preach all the time when your number is called to be ready, and he came up and had two big at-bats today, two quality at-bats that eventually scored that run. I couldn’t be prouder of him and how our guys competed tonight.”
As Mayo said, he made that lone run work for him. He retired the Golden Eagles in order in the top of the sixth, including a pair of strikeouts.
After hitting Jacksonville’s John Ducar with a pitch to lead off the seventh, Mayo dug in to retire the side and secure the win.
Matt Salmon suffered the tough-luck loss for Jacksonville. He came in to relieve Ducar in the bottom of the fourth and tossed three innings. Salmon surrendered the Warriors’ lone run on a hit with a walk and four strikeouts. He was also 1-for-2 at the plate.
Luke Richardson led Jacksonville at the plate by going 2-for-3. Ducar was also 1-for-2 and tossed three innings of no-hit ball.
Nate Black went 1-for-3 at the plate for the Warriors.
“The difference tonight was we actually competed,” Decker said. “Tonight we put together a team effort. We were able to build some momentum that we haven’t been able to do previously, and I think that’s going to propel us going forward.”
