Fort Mill Post 43 Juniors head coach Michael Lewis talks to his team during a meeting on the mound Saturday.

GREENWOOD – Troubles on the mound led to the Fort Mill Post 43 Juniors falling in the opening game of the 2022 Junior State Tournament at Legion Field in Greenwood.

Fort Mill lost 7-2 to Greer Post 115 Warhawks in the double elimination tournament and will play Mid-Carolina at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Post 43 pitching gave up 10 free bases through five walks and hitting five Greer batters as Fort Mill used four pitchers. Fort Mill also struggled to hit the ball well getting just four hits in the game.

Fort Mill did score first as Greer had their own pitching troubles with their starter balking twice including leading to the first run Post 43 had in the game scoring Killion Bennett, who singled in the second inning. Bennett was 1-2 in the game at the plate.

Greer would tie the game in the fourth inning on a wild pitch from Fort Mill, but Post 43 added their second run of the game in the top of the fifth as Mitchell Ladamus would double to start the inning off and Bradyn Deaton would sacrifice him in. Ladamus and Deaton would also go 1-2 in the game.

The lead would be short lived for Post 43 as Greer’s hitting started to finally come around scoring three runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Greer scored their three runs in the fifth on three hits and had three consecutive batters hit by Post 43 pitching.

The Warhawks took a 4-2 lead into the sixth inning and added three more on four hits.

The loss drops the Post 43 Juniors to 12-6 overall on the season. They will need to beat Mid-Carolina Sunday to stay alive in the tournament.

Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep

Post 43’s Mitchell Ladamus hits a double during Fort Mill’s game against Greer Saturday.