Post 225 Wins 10-9 On Strength of Arms
By Mike Hume
Note to opponents of American Legion Post 225: Don’t run on the centerfielder.
With the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Post 162 of Lorton waved home the would-be tying run from second base following a single up the middle. But centerfielder Ryan Charles scooped the ball from the ground and fired a missile to the plate ahead of the runner to preserve a 10-9 victory.
Post 225 pitcher Matt Walls threw seven strong innings to earn the win. Walls often got ahead in the count with a swooping first-pitch curveball, throwing it repeatedly for strikes. Walls finished the game with six strikeouts, while surrendering three runs on five hits and two walks.
Joe Schaffner led the Post 225 offense with an RBI double in the fourth and a two-run 360-foot-plus home run to centerfield in the sixth inning.
After rallying from a 2-0 defecit in the fourth inning, Post 225 controlled the middle innings. With the score 8-3 in the top of the eighth inning, a two-out error by the Post 162 second baseman proved costly, as Charles stroked a line drive down the left field line on the ensuing at-bat to score two more insurance runs — runs that would prove to be the difference thanks to his heroic throw in the final frame.
A flurry of late offense by Post 162 turned a once lopsided game into a final-out thriller.
With the score 10-3, Lorton rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth when Post 162 combined some timely singles with several hot shots that Post 225 failed to field. But a 6-4-3 double play and a strike out by Jason Cornwell, who came on in relief of Walls, bailed Post 225 out of trouble, setting the stage for the drama-laden bottom of the ninth.
After retiring the first two batters on ground balls, a single, a walk and a double down the left field line brought the score to 10-8 with runners on second and third. A walk on a 3-2 pitch loaded the bases with two outs, when the Post 162 batter drilled a single through the middle that rolled to Charles’ feet. Post 225 catcher Kevin Zdancewicz leapt up, caught the throw and applied the tag a second before the runner from second base slid across the plate. It was the second outfield assist in the game from centerfield for Post 225. In the seventh, Cornwell helped curb a Post 162 rally by gunning down a runner at third base for the first out of the inning after a walk and two singles.
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