Justin Nuzzo
Staff Reporter

DOBSON -- Surry Central used a combination of its own timely hitting and an error-filled fifth inning by North Wilkes' defense in an 11-1 victory against the Vikings in a Mountain Valley 2A Conference baseball matchup Tuesday night.

The Golden Eagles (9-7 overall and 6-3 in conference) needed just five innings to complete the task and got a two-run home run from Brett Boyles in the third inning. The victory lifts Central into sole possession of second place in the MVAC, a half game ahead of Starmount and Ashe County and 1.5 games behind Wilkes Central.

"We finally got our judging of the pitcher down and started to jump on him," Eagles coach Don Beane said. "We looked baffled the first few innings. Then, we started timing the pitcher good and timing our hits, especially in that last inning.

"They made a few errors, but I'll take a win anyway," he said. "Brett Boyles had a big home run tonight, and our pitching was really good. We played some good defense too."

Surry Central took a 2-0 lead into the top of the fourth inning, where the Vikings would use a base hit, hit batsman and a walk to load the bases. Sean Hall put North Wilkes on the board with his pop-up that fell between the Eagles' pitcher and third baseman for an error. The Eagles' lead was cut to 2-1.

In the bottom of the fourth, Surry Central would sweep away all Vikings chances of a win, sending 14 runners to the plate, taking advantage of four errors committed by North Wilkes in the field.

Kody Hudson led off the inning with a simple fly ball to right field that bounced off the outfielder's glove and allowed Hudson to advance all the way to third base.

A bouncer for a single by Joseph Davis scored Hudson to put Surry Central up 3-1.

Davis stole both second and third, sending a roar through the crowd after the second steal.

Boyles then drew a walk and was caught off the bag when the North Wilkes pitcher turned to first on the pickoff move. Boyles, caught in a rundown, ran toward second and toward first twice before eluding the first baseman and getting back to first base before he could be tagged out.

More importantly, Davis would score from third during the rundown and give the Eagles a 4-1 lead.

Boyles finished the game 1-for-2 with a two-run homer and a walk. Joseph Davis was 2-for-3 with two RBI for the Eagles.

Ty Woodring's RBI single quickly made the score 5-1, and two batters later, Matt Harris' RBI single made it 6-1, Eagles.

White followed Harris with an RBI double on a blooper toward center field, putting Surry Central ahead 7-1.

The Eagles continued to hit the ball harder in the fifth than they had all night when Austin McLamb and Zach Draughn belted consecutive RBI singles to put the Eagles up 9-1.

Surry Central would score their final two runs on a fielder's choice RBI by Davis and a fly ball by Eric High that was dropped for an error by the Vikings' outfield in its 11-1 victory.

Getting the win, White pitched five innings, striking out six. He gave up two hits and two walks. In the loss, David Bare gave up two walks and 11 hits. He struck out three. North Wilkes fell to 1-7 in the conference, 3-11 overall.

Surry Central 11, North Wilkes 1

Tuesday * at Dobson

North Wilkes 000 10 -- 1 2 4

Surry Central 002 09 -- 11 11 1

Bare and Miles (NW). White and Boyles (SC). WP -- White 2-3. LP -- Bare.

HR -- Boyles 2-run (SC); 3B -- Wood (NW); 2B -- White (SC).

Leading hitters: Boyles 1-for-2, HR, 2 RBI, BB, Davis 2-for-3, 2 RBI (SC); Wood 1-for-3 (NW).