A three-run seventh inning by Lancaster Post 31 spurred a rally allowing them to beat Fort Mill Post 43 Seniors.
Lancaster won 8-6 dropping Post 43 to 3-4 on the season and 2-2 in league play.
Lancaster went up 1-0 after the first inning with the help of a single by Skyler Hegler and a sacrifice fly by Darius Jackson scoring Tony Shannon.
The bottom of the first saw Jacob Pettit tripled in that half of the inning, but was left stranded on third.
Lancaster added another run in the second with the help of an error allowing Cade Jackson to reach. Shannon would then single him in later in the inning.
Fort Mill rallied in the bottom of the second to tie the game at two with two outs. Andrew Craddock walked and James Knoll singled. A double by Cole Gutmann scored them both to tie the game.
In the top of the third inning, Hegler led Post 31 off by reaching on an error. A walk to Brady Faulkenberry then led to Darius Jackson grounding into a fielder’s choice putting Lancaster back on top.
Pettit doubled to lead the bottom of the inning off and Brayden Hampton traded places with him to again tie the game with an RBI double. Craddock would double in courtesy runner Alex Smith giving Post 43 a 4-3 lead.
In the fifth, Post 31 tied the game at four. Shannon got hit by a pitch and Easton Rollings singled moving him to third. Shannon would score on a passed ball to again tie things up.
Fort Mill kept things moving as Pettit walked and Michael Rogers singled. They both would be sacrificed over and Pettit scored on a wild pitch to give Post 43 the lead back. Rogers would also score on a wild pitch several pitches later to put Post 43 up 6-4.
Fort Mill starter Ben Chuttey came out after five innings allowing four runs on three hits, while walking two and striking out five.
Post 43’s Tucker Gandy took the mound in the sixth inning. A walk sandwiched between two singles allowed a fifth run for Lancaster. Fort Mill got out of the inning without any more damage done.
Post 31 came back in the top of the seventh and tied the game on a double by Darius Jackson and then Jackson scored on a single by Lucas Deese to give Lancaster the lead. They would also add a run in the inning on a balk.
Fort Mill tried for a rally in the bottom of the inning but came up short. Pettit led at the plate going 2-4. Gutmann was 1-3 with two RBIs and both Hampton and Craddock each had RBIs as well.
Post 43 heads back to Lancaster on June 19 for game three of the series.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
