Ahoskie stops Post 84

Published 10:12 am Wednesday, June 13, 2012

ELIZABETH CITY – Ahoskie Post 102 beat Elizabeth City Post 84 by a final of 10-4 in a Junior American Legion game here June 7.

Ahoskie opened the scoring with seven runs in the top of the first frame.

Ryan Weaver started the game with a single. He promptly stole second before a Bryan Merritt single and an Eric Ortiz walk loaded the bases.

Weaver scored on a Brandon Terry RBI-groundout and Merritt scored when Ackerman Grace reached on an error. Tyler Small then walked to reload the bases.

Ortiz came home on a Tyler Jones bunt single and Grace scored when Austin Hurdle was hit by a pitch.

Everette Sawyer then delivered a two-run single and Weaver had an RBI-double to give Ahoskie the 7-0 edge.

Post 102 added to the lead with another run in the top of the second inning.

Terry walked and went to third on a Grace single. He then scored on a Small RBI-groundout as Ahoskie pulled ahead by an 8-0 count.

Post 84 finally got on the board with a run in the third inning and then added another mark in the fourth frame to cut the lead to 8-2.

Post 102 was having nothing of a comeback, however, as they scored two more in the top of the sixth to all but put the game out of reach.

Weaver singled and Merritt doubled. Ortiz delivered Weaver on an RBI-groundout and Merritt scored when Terry reached on an error.

Elizabeth City scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to close the gap to 10-4, but they never got any closer.

Ortiz pitched four innings for Ahoskie, allowing two runs. Stephen Umphlett tossed the final three innings, allowing two runs.

Ahoskie recorded eight hits led by Weaver’s trio and two from Merritt.

“We are playing pretty good baseball right now,” Post 102 skipper Brandon Matthew said. “We are starting to hit and playing good defense.”

The win boosted Ahoskie to 4-4 overall and 2-0 in the conference. They will host Edenton at home Friday in a 7 p.m. contest.