Time for American Legion playoff baseball: View Rock Hill, Fort Mill, other schedules
The playoffs are here.
The American Legion baseball regular season wrapped up this past week, and the playoffs will begin on Monday night.
Last week in the senior division, Rock Hill Post 34 and Fort Mill Post 43 staged a classic three-game series to determine the league winner.
Fort Mill opened the series with a 7-5 win on Monday night. Fort Mill took an early 3-0 lead and held off a Rock Hill rally in the top of the seventh inning to earn the win. Patrick Matthews led Fort Mill with four hits, and Harrison Wilson added three to the 12-hit assault. Ethan Belk paced Rock Hill’s 10-hit attack with a pair of hits. Jake Boyna pitched into the seventh and earned the victory.
Rock Hill evened things up on Tuesday night with a 9-4 home victory. Post 34 used a four-run outburst in the sixth inning to put the contest away. Hunter Fryzowicz led Rock Hill with three hits and Kollin Crepeau added two. Kenan Bowman paced Fort Mill with a pair of hits. Britton Adams worked six innings and picked up the victory.
Fort Mill won the third game in the series 4-2 on Wednesday to wrap up its fourth straight league championship: Rock Hill, which out hit Fort Mill 13-7, took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Fort Mill countered with three runs in the bottom of the frame. It stayed that way until Fort Mill added an insurance run in the home half of the fifth.
Matthews and Aaron Pedergast led Fort Mill at the plate. They each had a pair of hits and drove in a run. Brayden Kurtz and Eric Yelton combined on the mound for the win, which gave Post 43 the first round bye in the playoffs.
Fort Mill also picked up a forfeit victory against Chesterfield Post 74 during the week.
“Getting the bye in the first round was most important for us,” said Fort Mill head coach Tom Skula. “So happy for our guys, and what they have accomplished thus far.”
Post 43, which finished 10-2 in the league and 12-3 overall, is not going to sit during the first round.
“We have lined up several games against some of the other teams who also got first round byes,” added Skula. “Winning the series against a very good Rock Hill team really helps our confidence.”
Rock Hill, which finished 9-3 in the league and 11-4 overall, must rebound from the tough series loss and jump into the first round of the playoffs.
“We competed in all three games last week,” said Rock Hill head coach Jeremy McCoy. “I feel very good about our chances going forward.”
In other senior division news: Lancaster Post 31 (5-7) bested Chesterfield (4-8) in a best-of-three series to earn third place in the league.
When the postseason starts on Monday, three teams including Fort Mill will get a first round bye. Rock Hill, Lancaster, Chesterfield and Chester will also be in action in the first round, which is a best-of-three series. Rock Hill and Lancaster will open at home, while Chesterfield and Chester will play on the road.
American Legion baseball: Junior division
In the junior division, Fort Mill wrapped up the league title with three wins over Rock Hill last week. They clinched first place with an 11-3 win on Monday night. They added a 5-4 come-from-behind victory on Tuesday night, and completed the sweep with a 5-0 win on Wednesday night.
Fort Mill is 12-0 heading into the postseason, while Rock Hill is 7-5 in league play and 7-7 overall.
“We had a great bunch of kids to work with,” said Fort Mill head coach Mike Lewis. “Everyone on this team played a role, and they bought into what we were doing.”
Lewis credited a good portion of the success to one thing.
“We improved in every phase of the game as the year went along,” he added. “Many of our players had to play different positions from where they normally played, and they worked and got better.”
The perfect record heading into the playoffs will not be a distraction, Lewis said.
“We set goals at the beginning of the year,” he added. “We worked and accomplished them one at a time. We just need to stay focused on the next goal we have set.”
Lancaster and York Post 66 also battled this past week for possible playoff positions. Lancaster won a 15-12 slugfest on Monday night to stay in postseason contention. York, which was eliminated with the Monday night loss, evened the three-game series with a 4-3 win on Tuesday night. The loss eliminated Post 31, but they were later added to the postseason after a team that qualified dropped out..
Lancaster finished the regular season at 4-8, while York completed its season with a 2-10 mark.
Chester completed its regular season a week ago with a 5-7 record. Chester will make the postseason.
The 28-team playoffs will begin on Monday. Fort Mill and Rock Hill will open at home, while Chester will be on the road. Lancaster opens on the road on Tuesday.
Senior division schedule
Monday
Greenville at Rock Hill, 7:30 p.m.
Buffalo at Lancaster, 7:30 p.m.
Chesterfield at Greer, 7:30 p.m.
Chester at Spartanburg, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday
Rock Hill at Greenville, 7:30 p.m.
Lancaster at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Greer at Chesterfield, 7:30 p.m.
Spartanburg at Chester, 7:30 p.m.
NOTE: If a third game in the series is needed, the team that hosted the first game will host that game.
Junior division schedule
Monday
Fort Mill at Richland, 7:30 p.m.
Inman at Rock Hill, 7 p.m. (At York Comprehensive High School)
Chester at Ninety-Six, 7 p.m.
Tuesday
Fort Mill at Richland, 7:30 p.m.
Rock Hill at Inman, 7:30 p.m.
Ninety-Six at Chester, 7:30 p.m.
Lancaster at Sumter, 7 p.m.
Wednesday
Sumter at Lancaster, 7:30 p.m.
NOTE: If a third game in the series is needed, the team that hosted the first game will host that game.