RedWolves continue hot streak

By: | SCNOW
Published: May 31, 2009

FLORENCE — Stephen McCray joined the Florence RedWolves on Saturday, and the RedWolves threw him a heckuva welcome party at Legion Field.
They treated him to a pre-game parachute team. Nine runs in the first two innings. And a post-game fireworks display.
In turn, McCray — a big Georgia-born right-hander out of the University of Tennessee — gave the RedWolves a complete-game 9-2 Coastal Plain League win over the Thomasville Hi-Toms.
“To be honest, I didn’t feel the best I’ve ever felt out on the mound. My velocity wasn’t there like it usually is,” said McCray, who threw just 85 pitches. “I was just mixing speeds, changing locations. I was getting them to roll over a lot of ground balls.
“Going into the fourth or fifth inning, if what I was doing was working, I’d knew I would be fine to go the rest of the game.”
McCray’s outing is just the third nine-inning complete game of his career. He gave up six hits, walked three and struck out three.
Thomasville’s two runs were earned, including a solo home run by C.J. Beatty in the ninth.
“Stephen has the stuff to put up double digit strikeouts, but he was pitching to contact tonight,” said RedWolves assistant coach Andrew Noble. “He realized we had a big lead and just went out and got the job done. We feel good about getting that kind of outing on the mound for sure.”
Florence staked McCray to a 9-0 lead with seven runs in the second. A two-run double from Zach Caldwell and a three-run homer from Richard Pirkle were the big blows.
“When you get a lead like that, it definitely relaxes you,” McCray said. “You just go back out there and pitch. You have room to breathe and you’re able to go out there and just have fun.”
The win keeps the RedWolves atop the CPL South Division standings at 4-0. Thomasville falls to 1-3.
“It’s a lot of fun right now,” Noble said. “It’s a long season, but it’s important to get off to a good start in the first half. The winner of the first half goes to the playoffs.“
The RedWolves travel to Peninsula on Monday and Petersburg on Tuesday. They host an exhibition with the Catawba Valley Stars on Wednesday before hosting Columbia on Thursday. Both home games start at 7:30 p.m.

RedWolves continue hot streak

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