Fort Mill’s Patrick Matthews and Connor Rasmussen turn a double play for Post 43 during their game at Newberry College Monday.

NEWBERRY – Fort Mill Post 43 Senior team was able to take a game from Chapin/Newberry Post 193/24 at Newberry College 10-3 Monday night.

The win was the first non-conference win of the season in their first non-conference game for Post 43. Fort Mill was led by Trevor Krupke on the mound who pitched a complete game and had just one inning where he struggled. Krupke allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out seven and walking just one.

“Trevor really threw the ball well tonight,” said Post 43 Senior head coach Tom Skula. “Trevor was able to spot his fastball and kept batters off balance all night with his off-speed pitches. I really liked how our team responded tonight against a very good Chapin/Newberry team after coming off our first loss of the season. Everyone in our lineup from top to bottom contributed tonight. I enjoyed watching our team’s willingness to compete tonight. Every single pitch, every single play, and every single at bat was highly competitive today.”

At the plate, Post 43’s bats came around for the first time in a couple games as they had 12 hits in the win. Patrick Matthews, Harrison Wilson and Aaron Pendergast all had multiple hits.

Post 43 cracked the scoreboard in the second inning going up 2-0 to start things off with a sacrifice fly from Nic Curtis, who went 1-2 with two RBI and Matthews, who hit an RBI single as he went 3-5 in the game with two RBI. Fort Mill was able to score both runs on three hits in the inning.

Fort Mill added another run in the fourth inning to go up 3-0 as Curtis hit an RBI double scoring Pendergast, who walked earlier in the inning.

Post 43 had a big inning in the sixth where they scored five runs off three hits.  Chase Dougherty started the inning off with a single and then eventually scored on a wild pitch. Matthews singled and Connor Rasmussen had a two RBI single, which scored Pendergast and Curtis. Gabe Simmons would drive in Matthews on a sacrifice as Fort Mill took a commanding 8-0 lead.

The shutout was short lived as Chapin/Newberry would score three runs in the bottom of the inning on four hits. Krupke had cruised after giving up two hits in the first and one in the second before the sixth inning. He had tossed three hitless innings in the third through fifth innings.

Fort Mill was able to shake off the inning from Chapin/Newberry and score two more runs in the seventh inning. Wilson started the inning off with a triple and would score on a RBI single from Pendergast, while Matthews would drive in Pendergast three batters later. Pendergast went 2-2 with an RBI, and scored four times.

“Getting these non-conference games were crucial for our guys to stay in rhythm and get work in before the Rock Hill series,” Skula said. “Having a six-day break in between the Chester and Lancaster series, I believe really hurt us. Three consecutive games on the road will toughen our guys and let them get a sense of what we will experience come playoff time playing in consecutive days. These games are extremely invaluable.”       

Post 43 is back in action Tuesday with a road game at Concord and then a road game at Kannapolis Wednesday. The Junior team is off this week.

Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep

Post 43’s Trevor Krupke throws a pitch during the game against Chapin/Newberry Monday evening.