Post 102 falls in ninth inning
Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 4, 2005
AHOSKIE – Post 94 scored the winning run in the top of the ninth as they edged Ahoskie American Legion Post 102 7-6 in a Senior American Legion baseball game here Monday.
With the scored deadlocked at 6-all in the top of the ninth, Hunter Chase delivered an RBI-single that lifted Snow Hill to the win.
Post 94 opened the scoring with one run in the top of the first, scoring on a Chase RBI-single that gave them an early lead.
Post 102 took the lead in the second when Corey Castelloe singled to left and went to third when Ryan Simmons reached on an error. Heath Britt walked to load the bases before Castelloe and Simmons each scored on wild pitches to give Ahoskie a 2-1 advantage.
Post 94 added two runs in the third on a Jordan Scott two-run homer and one in the fourth on a Scott RBI-single to give Snow Hill a 4-2 lead.
They pushed that advantage to 6-2 by plating two runs in the top of the sixth. After a run scored on an error, Chase had an RBI-single to give Snow Hill the four-run cushion.
Ahoskie erased that deficit in the bottom of the seventh.
Daniel Waters had an infield single and advanced to second and third on wild pitches. Austin Lawrence reached on a dropped strike and Waters scored on a catcher error. That sent Lawrence to second. Brandon Matthews doubled to right, sending Lawrence to third, before Jacob Harrell walked to load the bases.
Lawrence scored when Dusty Todd reached on an error. Matthews and Harrell then scored on a Simmons two-run single to leftfield to tie the game at six.
Ahoskie had a chance in the bottom of the ninth when Harrell walked, but was thrown out at third when Todd singled. A groundout ended the game.
Lance Thomas started for Post 102 and went five and two-thirds with Matthew Schwab hurling the final three and one-third innings for the loss.
Ahoskie had seven hits led by Simmons with two hits and two RBIs.
&uot;Lance and Matthew both pitched good,&uot; Post 102 skipper Randy Whitaker said. &uot;They kept us in the game.
&uot;We played good defense and we hit the ball,&uot; he added. &uot;This is the kind of effort we need for each game. This should give us the confidence that we can compete with these teams. We had them on the ropes, but they got the big hit in the ninth inning.&uot;
Ahoskie dropped to 0-2 heading into their trip to Wilson County tonight at 7 p.m. They will return home to host Rocky Mount at 6 p.m. Sunday.