Rain stalls Fort Mill Post 43’s rubber game with Rock Hill

Neither Fort Mill Post 43 or Rock Hill Post 34 took a must-win game three in their season series, but rather Mother Nature coming out on top by spoiling things for both teams.

After Fort Mill won the first game 9-4 on the road and Rock Hill game back to win game two 11-9 at Fort Mill, game three was rained out last Thursday. A make-up date is to be determined. Both Fort Mill and Rock Hill have clinched playoff spots with identical 4-1 records as they battle for the League V title. York Post 66valso is in contention.

In the opener, Post 43 scattered a dozen hits and overcame five errors to beat Rock Hill. Fort Mill was led on the mound by Will Madairy, who went eight innings, allowing five hits and three runs while striking out six. Alex Stennett went 3-5 with two doubles and drove in six RBI. Greg Izzo also hit a double in going 2-4, while Zach Evans also went 2-3 with an RBI.

“Will (Madairy) pitched an outstanding game one of the series for us this week,” said Fort Mill head coach Tom Skula.

In game two, Fort Mill struggled on the mound, allowing Rock Hill to score eight unanswered runs to rally from a 9-3 deficit to an 11-9 win.

“Everyone is accountable, from the players to the coaches,” Skula said about blowing a big lead. “We needed to do a better job to close that game out.”

Turning point

Trailing 9-3 in the top of the ninth of game two, Rock Hill hit a go-ahead three-run home run from Coby Boan. The blast was part of a three-run ninth for Post 34, which hit the home run with two outs.

Critical

Fort Mill pitching walked eight in the loss while giving up six unearned runs. Rock Hill chipped away at Fort Mill’s pitching with nine hits in the final five innings despite being out hit 15-11 in the game.

“After our loss, I told our team, in order for us to go from a good team to a great team, we need to cut down on errors,” Skula said. “Sixty percent of the runs we have given up this year have been unearned.”

Star contributions

For Fort Mill, Joey Tepper, Carter McCrain and Justin Kerosetz all had three hits. McCrain and Tepper each had doubles in the game two losses. All three had RBIs in the game with Tepper leading with two RBI.

On deck

Post 43 faces Chester in a three-game series this week.

This story was originally published June 19, 2017 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Rain stalls Fort Mill Post 43’s rubber game with Rock Hill."