Post 34 gets to Fort Mill for early win

Tuesday Night Legion Baseball was in full swing as the Rock Hill Post 34 and the Fort Mill Post 43 played a double header at Fort Mill High School.

In the first game, Rock Hill beat Fort Mill 11-2 over seven innings. Rock Hill got on the board quickly with a run in the first, but Fort Mill pitcher Drake Durham held Rock Hill to only two hits. Rock Hill broke the game open once Fort Mill’s Josh Jones took the mound. In an inning, Rock Hill scored ten runs off of eight hits and four Fort Mill errors.

Among Rock Hill’s offense was Will Gardiner, who went 2-for-5 with a homer to lead off the second. Rock Hill’s Josh Alley went 3-for-4 with a double in the first and a homer in the sixth.

However, it was Rock Hill’s pitching that sealed the deal for Post 34. Starting pitcher Alley went five innings, giving up just two hits with six strikeouts. Trent Autry moved from shortstop to the mound at the top of the sixth inning to close the game. Autry finished with three strikeouts and didn’t give up a hit.

Turning Point

Going into the sixth inning Rock Hill trailed Fort Mill 2-1. It was Alley’s leadoff homer that switched off the offense. Rock Hill scored three runs giving them a 4-2 lead. Autry took the mound to close the sixth without giving up a hit nor a run. Then Gardiner swung the game wide open to leadoff the seventh with a homer. Rock Hill scored six batters in a row after Gardiner’s homer, going around the batting rotation a full time before the game finally ended.

Critical

Alley started the fifth inning by walking Fort Mill’s Matt Evdemon. After Evdemon stole second and then advanced to third off of Durham’s single to left center. A wild pitch scored Evdemon, and advanced Durham to third. A Rock Hill error then scored Durham, giving Fort Mill the lead 2-1.

Star Contributions

Alley and Gardiner led the offense for Post 34 going 2-5 and 3-4 respectively. Each had a homer and a double. Gardiner also threw out three runners playing second.

“Josh Alley gave us five solid innings. He kept us in it. He went 2-5 with a double and a homerun. He had the first two RBI’s of the game,” said head coach Jeremy McCoy.

Pitching insured the win for Rock Hill. Between Autry and Alley only two hits were given up and the pair stuck out nine batters. Autry and Alley forced Fort Mill to abandon six runners in scoring position over seven innings.

On Deck

Rock Hill will take on York this upcoming Thursday at 7 p.m. at South Pointe.

Box Score

This story was originally published June 21, 2016 at 10:26 PM with the headline "Post 34 gets to Fort Mill for early win."