Holly Springs baseball routs Fuquay-Varina, takes over 1st in SWAC

Holly Springs’ baseball program hasn’t seen a winning streak like this since Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Carlos Rodon was hurling strikes for the Golden Hawks.

In a battle of first place teams in the Southwest Wake Athletic Conference – and for bragging rights for the Wake County Baseball Invitational after both teams went undefeated in that tournament over spring break – Holly Springs defeated Fuquay-Varina 14-3 in six innings.

The Golden Hawks have now won 13 straight games, a streak that started March 14.

“We know that this game is probably the hugest game that we’ve had so far,” Hawks pitcher Camden Munise said. “We’ve been looking forward to it for awhile now.”

Holly Springs and Fuquay were tied 3-all after the first inning.

The Hawks got the scoring going with a Cameron Ellington RBI and a Brendan Wright two-RBI double, but it was answered with a three-run homer by Fuquay cleanup hitter Kyle Jackson in the bottom half.

It was the only runs Munise allowed in his complete-game effort.

Holly Springs added four runs in the top of the third – a solo homer by Tyler Babin, a bases-loaded walk to Wright, a sac fly by Brandon George and Ellington scored on a passed ball.

It added one more in the top of the fourth – a sac fly by Munise – and six in the top of the sixth – a two-RBI double by Munise (three RBIs), an RBI single by Wright (four RBIs), an RBI double by George (two RBIs) and two on an error throwing to home – to secure the 10-run margin needed to end the game early.

“I think the biggest thing for us is we had a lot of two-strike hits. I really felt like we competed all through at-bats,” Holly Springs coach Rod Whitesell said. “We didn’t give in when we got down in the count. I think that’s huge. You’ve got to compete. ... And when we did get out we made it tough on them.”

Fuquay-Varina associate coach Zach Boraski wants to see his pitching staff lower its WHIP (walks/hits per innings pitched) to limit the opposition’s base runners.

“Moving forward I think we have to compete better. Tonight I did not think we competed well,” “I give Holly Springs a lot of credit – they can hit the ball pretty well. So when you give them free runners and then they get a couple hits in a row that makes for big innings; whereas if you don’t walk anybody it takes two or three hits.”

This story was originally published April 19, 2017 at 3:08 AM with the headline "Holly Springs baseball routs Fuquay-Varina, takes over 1st in SWAC."