Playing in its first game in seven days, Wayne Country Day quickly shook off the rust during its second-round playoff game against Village Christian Academy.
The Chargers scored nine runs in the first inning and dominated the Knights 16-0 on Thursday.
Wayne Country Day advances to face John Paul II in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 2A quarterfinals on Saturday.
“That was everything we wanted to see because when our hiatus happened, the worry of a coach was, are we going to keep our momentum going?” Wayne Country Day head coach Adam Pate said. “I felt really good about how we played and going forward. I hope we can keep it going.”
In the bottom of the first inning, Rhett Johnson scored the Chargers’ first run of the game, and his older brother, Gavin Johnson, hit a two-run home run to give the Chargers a 3-0 lead.
After Tanner Willman’s sacrifice fly increased the Chargers’ lead to 4-0, Braden Collins also hit a two-run home run to put the Chargers ahead 6-0.
Four batters later, Rowan Watt’s three-run home run gave Wayne Country Day a 9-0 lead in the first inning.
“I thought we did a really good job offensively. We had several home runs, and we got out to a big lead early,” Pate said. “Pitching did its part and threw a lot of strikes. Moving forward, we want to keep the bats hot.”
The Knights had no answer for the Chargers and were unable to get anything going. In the bottom of the third, the Chargers took a 10-0 lead when Garrett Moffett hit an RBI double.
In the bottom of the fourth, Bryan Harrison had an RBI ground out, while Moffett hit a grand slam to give Wayne Country Day a 16-0 lead.
The Chargers were equally as dominant on the mound. Moffett, Willman, Watt, and Sterling Bass combined to throw a one-hitter and eight strikeouts.
“We want to keep that going the next couple of games,” Pate said about using multiple pitchers.
Moffett finished the game 2-3 with a grand slam, a double and five RBIs. Watt went 1-2 with a home run and four RBIs. Collins was 1-2 from the plate with a home run and two RBIs, while Gavin Johnson went 2-2 with a home run and one RBI.
Harrison and Willman both finished the game with one RBI, and Drew Spencer was 3-3 with two doubles.
After the game, seniors Watt, Moffett, Harrison, Willman and Bryce Smith were honored for their hard work and dedication to the Wayne Country Day baseball program.
“I’ve only been here two years, and all of the seniors mean a lot to me because they helped me get acclimated,” Pate said. “I owe a lot to those five and their families. They mean a lot to Wayne Country Day baseball.”
