Heading into the weekend, those were the only words on the lips of South Atlantic League fans when talking about the race for the Northern Division first half title.

But after Saturday night, both of those SAL juggernauts had better start looking over their shoulder.

Greensboro’s Day has come.

Zach Day, that is.

The 6-foot-4 right-hander has become a Weevil killer over the last week. For the second time, the Bats ace foiled Piedmont, this time in a 4-2 Bats win.

“Greensboro has a real nice team,” Weevils manager Greg Legg said. “They have a couple of good starters and a good bullpen. And in the five games they’ve played against us, they’ve made only one error.”

The Bats defense was flawless Saturday but not nearly as impressive as Day. The 22-year old from Indiana handcuffed Piedmont last week 3-0 and last night, was brilliant over seven innings, scattering eight hits and striking out 10.

“He has a real nice changeup to go with a 90-mile-per-hour fastball and he was getting his curveball over,” Legg said. “And he had a pretty big strike zone too.”

Unfortunately, that strike zone seemed to shrink once Piedmont’s Ryan Madson took the hill. He struggled, throwing 90 pitches in five innings and left trailing 4-1.

“When you get into the fifth with that many pitches, there’s no sense in going into the sixth,” Legg reasoned. “He’s 19 — he’s just going to have to take it. I’ve seen him pitch better and he knows he can pitch better.”

Greensboro got all the runs it needed in the second when doubles by Jeff Nettles and Dion Washington scored a couple. Single runs in the third and fourth innings came with two outs.

“They got on us early and took us out of what we wanted to do,” Legg said. “We had to play catch-up.”

The only trouble Day had came in the fourth. With two outs, three straight singles by Russ Jacobson, Jorge Padilla and Eric Schreimann loaded the bases for Brian Hitchcox, who punched a hit into center. Jacobson scored but Wily Mo Pena threw a strike home to nail Padilla on a very close play.

Day left after the seventh, but not before wowing the Weevil hitters.

“He’s tough,” said first baseman Nate Espy. “He has several pitches he can turn to and he can throw them anytime.”

Espy was more than happy to see Day leave. He greeted reliever Adam Roller in the eighth with his SAL-leading 15th home run, which sailed far over the right-field fence.

But Piedmont never had a chance in the ninth. Bats manager Stan Hough brought in Jose Franco, who is second in the league in saves. He promptly struck out Schreimann, Hitchcox and Julio Collazo to end the game and collect his 14th.

Espy quickly reflected back to the previous series, when Piedmont won three of four from Hickory. He said then not to get too high or low.

“It can turn at any time,” he said of momentum. “We’ve got 15 games left (in the first half) and we’ve got to keep plugging away. I think it will turn for us again. This team bounces back well.”

But now, Piedmont has not one team to try and fend off, but two.

“Teams are going to have peaks and valleys just like players,” said Espy. “So you have to treat every team like a threat. And Greensboro is coming up.”

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