COLUMBIA – A late five-run rally by Florence Post 1 allowed them to beat Fort Mill Post 43 in the American Legion Senior state title game.
Florence scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning after trailing 6-5 off four hits to beat Post 43 10-6. It was the second time in three years that Post 43 has finished as runners-up in the state championship. Fort Mill finished the season at 20-6.
Post 43 opened the championship game against Florence scoring a run in the top of the first as Patrick Matthews, who went 3-4 in the game, hit a triple to open the game off. He later scored on a passed ball to give Fort Mill the early lead.
Fort Mill would go up 2-0 on an RBI single in the third by Nic Curtis, scoring Keenan Sumner, who singled to open the inning. Up 2-0, Post 43 wasn’t able to hold off Florence for long as Post 1 scored four runs in the bottom of the third to take a 4-2 lead.
Post 43 added a run in the fourth on an RBI single from Chase Dougherty, which scored Harrison Wilson, and then added three runs on two hits in the fifth to take a 6-4 lead. Florence would add a run in the fifth as well and then explode for five in the sixth to mount the comeback.
Fort Mill had to beat Camden Post 17 earlier in the day Sunday to get to the 4 p.m. title game against Florence and did so by a score of 12-4.
Post 43 used up a lot of their bats in the first game against Camden as they collected 15 hits with both Wilson and Gabe Simmons each going 3-4 in the game. Fort Mill scored at least one run in every inning. Dougherty hit a solo home run in the sixth inning for Fort Mill as well.
Jacob Boyna had a strong command on the mound against Camden throwing four and a third innings while allowing three runs on three hits. He also struck out five and walked five as well in getting the win.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
