MORAVIAN FALLS—The Forbush Faclons put a damper on Wilkes Central’s senior night on Friday by driving in 10 runs on 14 hits to top reigning MVAC champions 10-4.

Although Central jumped out to the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning, the Falcons tied it up in the top of the fourth on a Travis Holden RBI single to right field.

Central recaptured the lead in the bottom of the inning when Seth Hendren drove in Jordan Carlton for the go-ahead run.

Although down 3-2, Forbush exploded for huge sixth and seventh innings to cruise to the win.

In the top of the sixth, Ben Temple pushed Holden across the plate for the first run of the inning.

The Falcons picked up two more runs in the next at-bat when Wesley Walker rocked a two-run shot to right field, giving Forbush the 6-4 lead.

But perhaps the biggest inning came in the top of the seventh when Forbush tacked on four more runs.

After Devin Doss led off with a walk, Brice Merritt hit an infield single, which allowed the Eagles to pick off Doss at second.

Although Doss was thrown out, Merritt beat the throw to first which put a runner on with just one out.

After the next Falcon batter struck out, Merritt made the dash for home when Caleb Brawley rocketed a single to leftfield.

Forbush continued the hit streak when Grayson Fulp singled to right field.

With two runners on, relief pitcher Nathaniel Hodges crushed a three-run homer over the leftfield fence, pushing the final runs across home plate.

“You always teach them to go the other way and eventually as you start seeing it well, you can pull it like he did. He kept hitting bullets to right field and all of a sudden he saw one and took advantage of it. He’s the type of kid you want on your team,” said Forbush Coach Taylor Rutledge.

Forbush finished the game by stranding two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh.

Although Hodges finished the game from the mound for the Falcons, starting pitcher Travis Holden got things going on the defensive side.

“I pulled Travis really quick. He has a hard time getting started in the innings sometimes,” Rutledge said.

Holden pitched the first two innings and earned two strikeouts while allowing just two hits.

“He’s thrown a lot of innings for us. He started the 10th against West Wilkes and pitched six against Starmount. I told those guys I want to stay fresh for the conference tournament,” Rutledge said.

Hodges came into the game in the second and finished the game with two strikeouts and only allowed six hits and three runs against the reigning MVAC champs.

In all, the Falcons connected on 14 hits for 10 runs with two errors while the Eagles pushed four across the plate on eight hits.

The win improved the Falcons to 13-3 in the MVAC, securing second place heading into this week’s conference baseball tournament.

“We have to it. We don’t have a dominant pitcher, and I’ve told these guys all the time if they buy into the system, and when they do, it seems to work out,” Rutledge said.

Forbush opened the conference tournament with an 11-2 win over North Wilkes on Monday afternoon.

As for the conference tournament, Rutledge commented on the caliber of the conference this year and several teams’ ability to capture the tournament championship.

“It could be wild. The teams near the bottom have at least one good pitcher, and that’s all it takes. If we don’t come ready, we could get knocked off,” Rutledge said.

Forbush 0 0 0 1 2 3 4- 10 14 2

Wilkes Central 0 0 0 1 1 2 0- 4 8 4