Burke County Post 21 might be an 8 seed in the Area IV playoffs, but they looked far from overmatched Wednesday night in Game 1 of the opening round.
Post 21 (7-11) gave East Division top seed Huntersville Post 321 (20-1) all they could handle, recovering from a 6-0 hole to knot things up late at 11 apiece before falling 15-11 at North Mecklenburg High School.
“We showed them that we can play with them,” Post 21 coach Ron Swink said. “I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of this series will play out.”
Huntersville jumped out to both 6-0 and 8-2 leads thanks to three homers in the first three innings, including a grand slam in the bottom of the second. Then with the higher-seeded hosts poised to end the game prematurely, Burke closed the gap to 11-6 after six innings.
The top of the sixth saw Post 21's Tre Young drive a shot over the fence, and in the seventh inning, Tyler Hopkins cleared the bases on a solid double. Quickly the score was 11-10 after the seventh inning.
Post 21 pinch runner Vance Stilley – running for catcher Brent Rowe – then slid across home plate on a two-out wild pitch in the top of the eighth inning, and the scoreboard read 11-11. But Burke's pitchers started out wild in the bottom of the frame and after three walks and two singles, Huntersville had regained the lead for good at 15-11.
“In the eighth, our pitchers walked three men who came in to score, which is definitely something you can not do against a good team like Huntersville,” Swink added.
“But I was pleased with our defense for the most part and the way we hit the ball. We did not quit. The guys just kept competing.”
Burke outhit Huntersville 16-13 in the slugfest, picking up a whopping 25 base runners in the game to Huntersville’s 23.
Young and Hopkins each picked up two singles and a double in addition to their home runs, accounting for eight hits, six RBIs and four runs between them. Rowe and Justin O’Dear both tacked on two hits to the 16-hit attack for Post 21, and all nine starters ended with at least one hit.
Burke used six pitchers in the game. Starter Mason Webb lasted 2 1/3 innings, giving up eight runs on six hits; Logan Cook allowed no hits and struck out two in 1 2/3 innings; Dustin Cabell pitched the fifth inning, giving up three runs on three hits; Lucas Clarke tossed two innings of work with one run on one hit; Donnie Hughes ran into control problems in the bottom of the eighth, walking two and giving up a hit and three runs; and Hopkins did a good job of closing the final at bat for Post 321 with one inning, one hit and two strikeouts.
Game 2 was late Thursday at Shuey Field, and tonight’s Game 3 shifts back to Huntersville.
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