Post 13 drops pair of games at Fleming

To say things did not go the way of the Wilson American Legion Post 13 baseball team Saturday would be an understatement. Wilson dropped a pair of games, 14-8 and 7-5, respectively, against Louisburg Post 105 and High Point Post 87 at Fleming Stadium in the Wilson Tobs Classic. 

Wilson, which dropped to 4-11 on the season, held an 8-5 lead entering the top of the seventh inning against Louisburg, but surrendered four runs in that fateful inning and couldn’t battle all the way back. 

“I think we executed at the plate and our pitching was good,” said Post 13 outfielder Drew Wells. “They’d find a way to come through and have one big inning, and we just couldn’t come back in the bottom of the next inning to execute or get the job done.” 

Post 13 loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fifth, and Drew Wells came through with an RBI single to break a 2-2 deadlock, but Wilson could not bring another run home. 

“It hurt,” Wells said. “You’ve got to have competitive at-bats, take good pitches and try to have a good approach, get a hit or at least put a ball in play to get a run in.” 

That proved costly in the top of the sixth, a four-run inning for Post 87. 

After a walk, error and shallow single loaded the bases, Wilson starter Hunter Lewis, who allowed just two earned runs and struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings, issued a bases-loaded walk to tie it. 

“It doesn’t help when you give outs away,” Wells said. “The pitchers work hard. When they get a ground ball or pop fly and you make an error, runs score and base runners get on, things get going and then that’s when they do get a hit. You just can’t battle back from errors.” 

With reliever Jake Flowers on the mound, Post 87’s Jake Little dropped an RBI single in just the right spot to score two more runs, and an errant throw from home plate to second made it a 6-3 game. 

“Hunter pitched his tail off tonight,” said Post 13 head coach Matt Ballance. “Then we brought Jake in and Jake was doing a really good job. Two flare hits fall in. … Both of them happen with a 3-2 count with runners in motion. That’s kind of how today’s been for us. It’s at the wrong time and wrong scenario, and they benefit from it.”

Post 13 battled back in the bottom of the sixth as Mason Sasser and Ryan Bass both singled and moved up on a wild pitch, and Sasser then scored on a wild pitch. 

In the top of the seventh, however, a lead-off double from Evan Goodwin started another Post 87 opportunity. 

Wells appeared to make a diving catch in right field, but the umpire ruled he dropped it, putting runners on second and third, and allowing another run to come home on a single. 

Post 13 managed to make it a 7-5 game in the bottom of the seventh as Bryson Jenkins wore a pitch, Seth Evans doubled and Tyson Foster brought Jenkins home with a sac fly, but could not find the extra two runs it needed. 

“Hats off to High Point, they’re a tough ball club,” Ballance said. “We did everything we should have for six and a half innings tonight. Two bloop hits and one catch-no catch that went the wrong way for us determines the outcome of this game a little bit.” 

In the opening game against Post 105, Wilson took an 8-4 lead into the top of the seventh inning, but surrendered 10 runs to lose 14-4, turning what appeared to be a comfortable win into a six-run loss. 

“We were in a really good position,” Ballance said. “Hats off to Louisburg, they just ended up getting a base runner or two and getting some hits when they needed them. A lot of it was baseballs that were probably routine but the wind pushed them out a little and it put them past the outreach of some of our outfielders’ gloves. It’s just tough luck. It seems like if something were to happen, it’s probably happened to us at some point this summer.” 

Post 13 will start its final three-game stretch of the regular season in its regular-season home finale against East Division foe Kinston Post 43.

“As bad as it seems like things have been against us all summer, we’ve still got first place to play for next week,” Ballance said. “If we win one game, there’s a good chance we lock it. So as bad of luck as we have had, destiny’s still in our hands at this point. It’s there’s for the taking.”

Score by innings:

Post 87 000 204 1 — 7

Post 13 020 011 1 — 5

W-Tyler Shafer 6 1/3 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 R, 3 BB, 6 K. L-Hunter Lewis 5 2/3 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. S-Owen Smith 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.

LEADING HITTERS — High Point: Jake Little 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Yates Sikes 2-3, 2B; Tyler Shafer 2-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI. Wilson: Seth Evans 2-3, 2B, R; Drew Wells 1-2, R, RBI.