A Justin O’Dear two-run home run in the eighth inning followed by a Tre Young three-run blast in the ninth proved to be too little and too late, as Hickory Post 48 held on for a 13-10 legion win over Burke County Post 21 on Thursday night.
Ironically, Post 21 lost by the same score at home versus Hickory on May 25 after giving up six ninth-inning runs.
On Thursday, Burke took an early 4-0 lead after the second inning on runs by Brent Rowe (walk), O’Dear (double), Alex McGee (two-RBI double) and Mason Webb (RBI single) before Hickory came back in the third to cut the lead to 4-3.
Using effective pitching from starter Donnie Hughes, Post 21 was able to increase the lead to 5-3 when Rowe doubled in Hughes in the top of the fifth inning. When Hughes started running out of steam in the bottom of the sixth, Post 48 was able to plate four runs to take a 7-5 edge. Then with some rocky relief in the seventh inning, Hickory was able to put together a six-run at bat to go up 13-5, a lead that was too big for the Burke bats to overcome despite the late heroics.
“We were outhit tonight and just got beat by a good Hickory team,” Post 21 coach Ron Swink said. “We still had enough runs to win, but we just could not stop their bats and get them out.”
O’Dear again led his team at the plate, adding a single and double to his homer and tacking on two runs and two RBIs. Young's seventh homer of the season was accompanied by a walk and a single, while Rowe reached base three times with a double and two walks. Alex McGee batted in two runs as he reached base on a double and a walk.
Hughes went 5 1/3 innings on the mound for Burke, with Webb, Powell and Cameron Waters combining for the relief effort. Waters got the final five outs by just allowing one hit. For the night, Burke picked up their 10 runs on 11 hits while committing just two errors.
- Bill Bailey
Rutherford County 8, Burke County 0 (Fri.) – On Wednesday, Burke held Rutherford County Post 423 to one hit before weather disrupted a possible shutout win in five innings.
Less than 48 hours later, the painful irony really set in.
Post 21 was held to one hit in an 8-0 Friday road loss at McNair Field, which served as a makeup contest from Wednesday's rainout.
Burke led 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth and only needed three outs to make the game official on Wednesday, but instead was forced to complete a full nine-inning game Friday.
A rested Post 423 pitching staff was nearly flawless as J.M. Spangler tossed a complete-game effort. The only hit Spangler allowed was to Cameron Moore in the eighth.
Meanwhile, Rutherford scored three first-inning runs and three more in the fourth. They totaled 14 hits and also scored once apiece in the second and fifth innings.
Post 21 (6-10, 5-10) hosted Henderson County Post 77 late Saturday in the regular-season finale. The team will start the Area IV playoffs Tuesday, with its first-round opponent and the best-of-five series schedule yet to be determined.
- Kevin Carver
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