Salisbury baseball 4, A.L. Brown 2

By Mike London

mlondon@salisburypost.com

Salisbury catcher Jordan Fuller's throw to third base was perfect, and a double-steal attempt by A.L. Brown in the seventh inning turned into disaster.

Fuller's alertness and accurate throw keyed an unorthodox 4-2 victory for Salisbury at home on a cold Friday afternoon.

It was a game that could've been played in 1910 with a dead baseball. The teams combined for 14 walks and zero extra-base hits.

Nolan Meyerhoeffer and Jeremy Forbis knocked in two runs apiece for the Hornets (2-0). Pitchers Philip Tonseth, Kyle Wolfe and John Knox limited Brown to five hits.

The Wonders (0-2) lost their first game 2-1 to South Rowan and weren't hitting much yesterday. That's why coach Empsy Thompson had to try to make something happen with his team's wheels.

Aggression paid off with a quick run for the Wonders in the first. Leadoff man Zach Jones singled, stole second, advanced to third when Fuller's throw sailed into the outfield and scored on Dylan May's sac fly to right.

Salisbury came back in the bottom of the first against Brown starter Ryan Blackmon, turning three singles and two walks into a three-run inning. The key to the frame was a perfect sac bunt by Fuller that set up a two-run single by Meyerhoeffer.

"We've practiced and know what to do in situations," Fuller said. "We're a young team, but we can do things like an experienced team."

Tonseth settled down, Blackmon settled down and the scoreboard didn't change for an hour.

Tonseth got help from a diving play by Wolfe at third base in the second and pitched out of a jam in the fourth after walking the bases full.

May singled, stole second and scored on a John Tuttle hit to cut Salisbury's lead to 3-2 in the fifth.

Salisbury got that run back in the bottom half of the inning. Brian Bauk and Knox walked. Knox was forced out at second on a bunt by Wolfe, but Bauk made it to over to third. He scored when Forbis lifted a short sac fly to left into a brisk wind.

"That run was huge," Salisbury coach Scott Maddox. "Two-run lead instead of a one-run lead changed the way Empsy had to play things the rest of the way."

Things got exciting in the top of the seventh when Wolfe walked Wesley Honeycutt after a long tussle and walked Tuttle on a 3-2 pitch.

Knox, a junior infielder who pitched only 22/3 innings as a sophomore, relieved in a tough situation.

Down two runs, Thompson had two good runners on, a patient hitter at the plate in Zach Wright and an inexperienced pitcher on the mound.

"We were anemic all day at the plate, and I was not gonna sit back," Thompson said. "We rolled the dice with the double-steal. We didn't get a great jump, but that's a chance I'll take every time."

Infielders were screaming as the runners took off, and Fuller's peg cut down Honeycutt, the lead man.

"I didn't think they'd try to steal there, but they were trying to get runners in any way they could," Fuller said. "The big thing was we got great communication from all the infielders."

Wright, Brown's catcher, wound up walking for the fourth straight time, and Frank Villa went in for him as a courtesy runner. Fuller promptly threw out Villa trying to steal second.

"Not my best throw, but Spencer Carmichael made a great pick of a short hop and a good tag," Fuller said.

Knox then earned a save by getting pinch-hitter Justin Kidd to bounce to second.

"We walked way too many guys, but we played with high energy and made some defensive plays," Maddox said. "I'm just real happy. A couple of weeks ago, I would not have expected to start out 2-0."