Wayne Country Day flexed its muscles against The Burlington School on Monday.
Braeden Collins craved out a five-inning, two-hit gem as the Chargers dumped The Burlington School 11-1 in five innings.
“I’m proud of our guys because we knew it was a big game. Burlington is a really good team, and if we play again, I’m sure it won’t be like that,” Wayne Country Day head coach Adam Pate said.
Since its losing Charlotte Christian on Mar. 19, Wayne Country Day has won four games in a row and has won those four games by a combined score of 45-4.
Collins allowed one run (zero earned), walked two, and retired 10 Spartan batters on strikeouts.
“Our pitching was really, really good. Braeden had a great start, and he was still throwing his best in his last inning,” Pate said. “Then offensively, we did a lot of good things.”
Wayne Country Day made sure to get off to a fast start.
In the bottom of the first inning, after Everett Johnson drew a walk, Rowan Watt hit a two-run home run to give Wayne Country Day an early 2-0 lead.
Gavin Johnson later crossed home plate off a wild pitch, and the Chargers led 3-0 after one inning.
“I think the kids knew what kind of implications this game had because both of us are in 2A, and both being really good teams,” Pate said. “Burlington is a really good team, and I thought our kids responded well to the opportunity.”
The Burlington School had no answer for Collins, who shut down the Spartans in the first, second, third, and fourth innings.
But in the top of the fifth inning, the Chargers ran into a little bit of trouble.
With two outs on the board, the Spartan’s Wagner Morrissette scored off an error, but Collins struck out Will Stadler to get the Chargers out of the inning.
“Anytime that Braeden did walk one or give up a hit, he responded with his best stuff, and that is what it takes,” Pate said.
The Chargers responded by scoring seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, and the Chargers won the game in five innings.
Watt finished the game 2-3 with a double, home run and five RBIs, while Everett Johnson was 2-2 with a double and two RBIs. Andrew Eltz contributed an RBI.
“We didn’t force the envelope too much with chasing pitches,” Pate said. “We did what we were able to do, and we took advantage of what they gave us.”
Wayne Country Day (7-1 overall) hosts Wake County Homeschool (4-0) today, and the Chargers travel to John Paul II (7-2) on Wednesday.
