YORK – The Fort Mill Post 43 Seniors opened their series on the road against York Post 66 with a convincing win.
Post 43 beat York 10-2 with the help of seven Post 66 errors. Fort Mill improved to 10-4 overall.
Cooper Armstrong reached on an error to lead the game off. Jack Shelnutt singled and then Alex Blanchette doubled to score both Armstrong and Shelnutt with no outs in the top of the first. Ethan Solnick reached on an infield single scoring Blanchette and another York error put runners at the corners. Fort Mill would get out of the top of the first inning with a 3-0 lead.
York had two singles in the bottom of the first inning. Post 66 got the bases loaded with a walk, but Post 43 starter Carter Powell would battle back to get out of the inning without allowing a run.
Powell came back in the bottom of the second inning to face the minimum and worked a quick inning. Fort Mill also went down in order as they were unable to get any base runners.
Powell continued to settle into a groove in the third inning and worked another short inning.
In the top of the fourth, Solnick doubled to start the inning. Solnick scored on a fielder’s choice by Jackson Bendis. Bendis would score on a York error and TJ McCluney would also score on another error. Shelnutt would keep things moving with a single, however, that was all Post 43 would be able to pull together in the inning to go up 6-0.
Solnick had a two out single in the fifth, but that was all Fort Mill could do in the inning. In the bottom of the inning, York had a couple base runners on in the bottom of the inning even getting to third, but Powell remained strong and again was able to get out of the inning without any damage done.
In the top of the sixth inning, Bendis was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning and eventually came around to score on a groundout by McCluney. Armstrong, James Knoll and Grey Kneidel walked to load the bases. Cooper Diehl drove in Armstrong on a sacrifice fly pushing the Post 43 score to 8-0.
Zach Young came into the game in the bottom of the sixth inning for Fort Mill. Powell went five innings allowing four hits, while walking three and striking out four. Young allowed one base runner and was able to get out of the inning keeping the shutout in tack.
In the top of the seventh, Daniel McCloskey was hit by a pitch, while Bendis and McCluney walked to load the bases. Knoll would also walk to get an RBI and a passed ball scored another run for Post 43 to make it 10-0.
York led the bottom of the seventh with a double. Post 66 would eventually score to break the shutout. York would single in another run before Fort Mill could get out of the inning with a win.
Shelnutt and Solnick each went 2-3 at the plate to lead Post 43. Blanchette went 1-3 with two RBI.
Game two in the series is at home for Fort Mill on Tuesday, July 7.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
