Post 43 splits doubleheader during rainy first week

After a later than normal start to the season, the Fort Mill American Legion Post 43 baseball team was able to split a double header with Clover Post 38, but rain washed out two of their other scheduled games.

Fort Mill lost game one of the doubleheader 6-3 after two rain delays pushed the seven-inning game to 3 1/2 hours. In the second game, Post 43 was able to bounce back and win 14-5 in another seven-inning game that went about 2 1/2 hours.

In the first game, Post 43 led 1-0 in the fourth inning with the bases loaded when the game was halted for lightning. Rain came and the game didn’t resume for 70 minutes. Once it did, Josh Jones drove in Fort Mill’s second run with a sacrifice fly, scoring Timmy Lehman, who singled an hour earlier, to put Post 43 up 2-0.

Starting pitcher Joseph Wyatt worked four innings of one-hit baseball, then allowed two runs to Clover on four hits to tie the game in the fifth. Wyatt was replaced in the sixth inning, and Clover added three more runs to take a commanding 6-2 lead.

Citadel commit Matt Evdemon from Indian Land went 3-4 in the game for Post 43 with two RBIs, and Clay Helvey was 2-3 with a double to lead Fort Mill at the plate.

In the second game, things started clicking for Post 43 slowly, but surely. Jones got the start and went five innings. After a shaky start allowing two runs in the first inning off a hit and a walk, Jones settled down. He got the win, allowing six hits and just those two runs while walking two and striking out five.

Run support was slow as well for Post 43 until the fifth inning when they scored 10 runs on six hits and two Clover errors to go up 11-2.

Helvey hit a solo home run in the game, while Joey Tepper went 3-4 with an RBI. Carter McCrain went 2-3 with three RBIs and a double, and Greg Izzo went 2-4 at the plate to lead Post 43.

With their schedule in flex, Post 43 will play its season series against Lancaster all this week, with two games at home Monday and two games in the Rose City Wednesday. The doubleheaders will start at 6 p.m. each day.

This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 9:10 PM with the headline "Post 43 splits doubleheader during rainy first week."