Fort Mill Post 43 pitcher Greyson Wild got the start in an elimination game against Greer Post 115 during the 2020 state tournament at Segra Park.

COLUMBIA – Consecutive bad days at the office, bounced Fort Mill Post 43 from the 2020 American League Summer Baseball tournament with an 8-2 loss to the Greer Warhawks at Segra Park.

Post 43 finished the season with a 15-4 record and third in the state. West Columbia won the state title beating Greer 7-1 Sunday afternoon. The loss Sunday ended the best two year run Post 43 has ever had having made it to the state tournament in back-to-back years for the first time and going 38-10 over the past two seasons with second place and third place finishes in the state.

“Being down a couple starting pitchers, committing errors, and not being able to string multiple hits together with runners in scoring position was not a good combination this weekend,” said Post 43 head coach Tom Skula. “We achieved a lot this summer, but weren’t able to get the ultimate goal in winning a state championship. I am happy this league was able to be formed this summer. It gave the graduating high school seniors an opportunity to have a season, ability to play for a championship, and have memories they will remember for a lifetime.”

Fort Mill again got off to a rough start on the mound allowing four runs over the first two innings, but also made three errors in the field, two in the first couple of innings against Greer. Greyson Wild got the loss on the mound going three innings allowing five runs on seven hits, while striking out three.

Post 43 got seven hits in the game, but also left eight men on base in the game as well. Down 4-0, Fort Mill didn’t score their first runs until the fifth inning as Connor Rasmussen, who went 2-4 with two RBI, hit a two-run single to score A.J. Jaworowski, who singled earlier in the inning, and Xavier Cumbee, who reached on a fielders’ choice. The two runs cut the Greer lead to 5-2 at that point.

In the bottom of the sixth, Greer hitters got to Fort Mill pitching again as Dusty Sanderlin in relief allowed three runs on four hits in two and a third inning. Greer scored three runs in the sixth inning off three hits.

Post 43 was led at the plate by Rasmussen and Patrick Matthews, who also went 2-4. Jaworowski, Nic Curtis and Chase Dougherty all went 1-3 as well.

Despite not winning a state title, Fort Mill Pot 43 still had a lot to be proud of. The team won a league title for the third year in a row and made it to the state tournament for the third time in the last four years (2017, 2019 and 2020).

“I was really excited to see a lot of our players develop and get better throughout the summer,” Skula said. “Especially watching some of our younger players gain some invaluable experience against players that were 3-4 years. Moving forward we have a lot of great young talent coming up the pipeline through the various schools we draw players from.

“I want to thank Michael Riefsnyder and the committee for putting in countless hours to organize this league. The amount of man hours involved in creating this league from the league committee down to the coaches/AD’s was incredible. A huge shoutout to Jimmy Jackson and Lancaster Post 31 for welcoming us with open arms this summer. This season wouldn’t have been possible without being able to use Harvey Eggleton field for home games.”

Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep