Legion baseball tournament update

By Richard Walker

For the second straight day, early leads didn’t hold up for Cleveland County or Cherryville in North Carolina American Legion baseball state tournament games at Campbell University.

Cleveland County Post 82-155 lost 13-5 to Wilmington as Post 10 used 14 hits, 3 walks, 1 hit batter and 3 fielding errors to win the elimination game.

The loss ends Cleveland County’s season with a 24-11 record. It’s the 1st 20-win season since 2018 and ended with Cleveland County winning its 18th regular season title (Area IV West) before finishing as Area IV runner-up for a 10th time and closing the season with 1,510 all-time Legion baseball victories.

Cleveland County took a 3-1 lead after 2 innings before Wilmington had a 5-run 3rd inning and 6-run 5th inning to cruise to victory.

Colby Putnam (2 triples, 1 RBI), Connor Gantt (RBI single), Aiden Taylor (RBI single, 2 stolen bases) and Jaxon Dubesko (double) led head coach Charlie Ruff’s 9-hit offense.

Cherryville Post 100 lost 11-4 to Rowan County as Post 342 used 7 hits, 10 walks, 3 hit batters and 3 fielding errors to win the elimination game.

The loss ends Cherryville’s season with a 22-14 record. Post 100 won its 4th straight Area IV title – and record 21st overall – while increasing its total to 1,429 all-time Legion baseball victories and coach Bobby Reynolds’ all-time state record for wins were increased to 882.

Cherryville took a 2-1 lead after 1 inning on Ashton Pope’s 2-run home run before Rowan County had a 5-run 2nd inning and 3-run 6th inning to roll to the victory.

Pope (2-run home run), Will Fowler (2 hits), Joseph Webb (2 hits) and Landon Jenkins (double) led Post 100’s 9-hit offense.

Full pairings for the N.C. state Legion tournament at Jim Perry Stadium, Campbell University:

(Tuesday, July 25)
Game 1 – Area 1 No. 1 (Pitt County Post 39 – 16-9) vs. Area 4 No. 2 (Cleveland County Post 82-155 – 24-9) – Pitt County 2-1
Game 2 – Area 3 No. 2 (High Point Post 87 – 17-4) vs. Area 2 No. 1 (Wilmington Post 10 – 16-2) – High Point 5-1
Game 3 – Area 1 No. 3 (Wayne County Post 11 – 30-6) vs. Area 3 No. 1 (Rowan County Post 342 – 37-5) – Wayne County 4-1
Game 4 – Host/Area No. 2 (Fuquay-Varina Post 116 – 23-3) vs. Area 4 No. 1 (Cherryville Post 100 – 22-12) – Fuquay-Varina 3-1

(Wednesday, July 26)
Game 5 – Cleveland County vs. Wilmington – Wilmington 13-5
Game 6 – Rowan County vs. Cherryville – Rowan County 11-4
Game 7 – Pitt County vs. High Point, 4:30 p.m.
Game 8 – Wayne County vs. Fuquay-Varina, 7:30 p.m.

(Thursday, July 27)
Game 9 – Rowan County vs. Loser Game 7, 1 p.m.
Game 10 – Wilmington vs. Loser Game 8, 4:30 p.m.
Game 11 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 7:30 p.m.

(Friday, July 28)
Game 12 – Winner Game 9 vs. Loser Game 11, 4:30 p.m.
Game 13 – Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 10, 7:30 p.m.

(Saturday, July 29)
Game 14 – Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 13, Noon
Game 15 – if necessary, 3 p.m.