GARNER – The Ahoskie Post 102 Senior American Legion team got out of the gate quickly this past weekend.

The Ahoskie squad topped Garner 4-0 in game one before falling in the second game of the double header by a 5-3 count.

Brandon Warren pitched a three-hit shutout in the first game of the day to help his team to the victory.

Post 102 opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the second stanza.

Blake Hill singled and moved all the way to third on a Joseph Eure single. Hill then scored on a Tyler Pryor RBI-single. Eure came in when Mitchell Godwin reached on an error, giving Ahoskie a 2-0 advantage.

Post 102 added two more in the top of the third.

Warren was hit by a pitch, putting him aboard for Jud Smith’s two-run homer to left. That gave Ahoskie a 4-0 lead after three innings.

Warren pitched all seven innings for the victory. He allowed no runs on three hits while striking out 11.

In the second game, Garner grabbed a 5-0 lead over the first two innings.

Post 102 battled back in the top of the fourth inning.

Warren hit a solo homer to center to get things going for Ahoskie. Hill then reached on an error and Smith singled. Hill scored on a Eure RBI-single and Smith scored on a Pryor RBI-single to close the gap to 5-3.

Neither team was able to score again and the game ended with Garner taking a 5-3 victory.

Ryland Edwards pitched six innings for Ahoskie Post 102.

Ahoskie had 11 hits in the doubleheader.

“Brandon pitched a great game for us in the opener,” Post 102 skipper Dave Ellis said. “In the second game, we fell behind and came up short.”

A day after the doubleheader split, Ahoskie dropped a 10-7 decision to Garner.

In that contest, Post 232 built a 9-1 lead and had to hold off a furious rally from Ahoskie.

Post 102 opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first frame.

Marvin Harrell singled and went to second on a Daniel Merritt groundout. Warren then walked. Harrell scored on a Hill RBI-single to give the visiting team the early lead.

Garner, however, battled back with nine runs over the first four innings to take a commanding lead.

Post 102 didn’t surrender, however. They began the comeback effort with four runs in the top of the sixth inning.

Hill led off with a solo homerun. Pryor then walked, Edwards doubled and Godwin walked to load the bases. Harrell was then hit by a pitch to force in a run. Eure laced a two-run single into the outfield scoring Edwards and Godwin and closing the gap to 9-5.

Post 232 added its final run in the bottom of the sixth and led 10-5 after six innings.

Ahoskie, however, added another run in the top of the seventh.

Hill walked and scored on a Smith RBI-double that closed the gap to 10-6.

Ahoskie’s final run came in the top of the eighth.

Burden singled, Harrell walked and Eure singled to load the bases. Smith then drew a bases-loaded walk to close the gap to 10-7, but that was as close as they got.

Hill pitched two and one-third while Eure went five and two-thirds for Post 102.

Ahoskie had 13 hits led by Burden who had three hits. Eure, Harrell and Smith had two hits each.

“We hit the ball well,” Ellis said. “We had chances to score more runs, but we didn’t.”

The loss dropped Ahoskie to 1-2 for the season. They will pay Pitt County at home Saturday in a 4 p.m. doubleheader. They will then play at Apex Sunday. First pitch for that game is at 2 p.m.