LANCASTER – The Fort Mill Post 43 Juniors evened the season series with Lancaster Post 31 with a convincing win.
Post 43 won 11-1 on the back of a two hitter by pitcher Matthew Scott. Fort Mill is now 9-2 overall in the Piedmont League and has a 1.5 game lead. Post 43 is 2-2 on the season against Lancaster.
Fort Mill struck first in the top of the first. Eli Wilson doubled and then scored on a Post 31 error.
In the second, Grey Kneidel walked and then stole both second and third before James Carlin drove him in with an RBI single.
Lancaster threatened in the bottom of the inning getting runners on the corners, but Scott was able to get out of the inning without allowing a run.
In the top of third, Wilson and Cooper Diehl both walked. Wilson scored on a passed ball, Scott and Fowler were hit by pitches, before Lancaster went to a new pitcher in Ethan Bufford. After the change, Diehl scored on a groundout by Declan Errett putting Fort Mill up 5-0 before Post 31 could get out of the inning.
In the fourth inning, Carlin singled to start the inning. He would eventually steal third and score on a passed ball. Wilson walked and was eventually thrown out at home trying to score on hit by Diehl.
Offensively, things slowed in the fifth inning for Post 43 as they failed to score for the first time in the game.
Things picked back up in the sixth for Fort Mill. Carlin walked and was moved to second by a single from Michael Caropreso. Both Carlin and Caropreso stole bases and Wilson was intentionally walked to load the bases. Diehl drove in Carlin and an error allowed one more Post 43 run to score. Scott drove in Diehl on an RBI single to make it 9-0.
Lancaster showed some life in the bottom of the sixth inning. Bufford hit a one out double for Post 31 second hit of the game. He would steal second and then score on a wild pitch.
Fort Mill added two more runs run in the top of the seventh. Erett was hit by a pitch and scored on a single by Carlin. Carlin scored on a passed ball after a Caropreso single.
Scott went six and two third innings before being pulled. He allowed one run on two hits, while walking four and striking seven. Eli Cheske replaced him for the final out.
At the plate, Post 43 was led by Carlin who went 3-3 with two RBIs and scored three times. Caropreso went 2-4 as well.
Fort Mill will play Rock Hill Post 34 in the season final on Wednesday, July 2 at home.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
