HAMLET — A single-game season-high number of runs scored Tuesday still wasn’t enough for the Hamlet American Legion baseball team to break into the win column against a conference opponent.
Facing the second of the two Moore County Legion teams in its Area 3 Conference, Hamlet let an early lead slip away in extra innings.
Hosting Aberdeen Post 72, the 49ers fell 15-14 in 10 innings.
Hamlet led early on and scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game 10-10 and force extra frames. Both teams scored one run in the eighth and three runs in the ninth.
Aberdeen's run in the top of the 10th, scored on a two-out single, proved to be the difference maker. Hamlet ended the game with the tying run at third base and the winning run at second base.
Hamlet scored two runs in the first inning and another in the second to take a 3-0 lead. Aberdeen answered with a five-run third inning and two more runs in the top of the fourth to jump ahead 7-3.
Post 49 chipped away at the deficit with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Scoring three runs between the sixth and seventh frames to go ahead 10-5, Aberdeen allowed the game to go into extras when Hamlet scored five runs in the seventh.
Hamlet used four pitchers in the game and started Dylan Tilson (Scotland). He threw three innings and allowed seven earned runs on three hits and seven walks with four strikeouts.
Brady Fowler (Montgomery Central) threw two scoreless innings of relief. Collin Hill (Richmond) followed with three innings and only two of his four runs allowed were earned. Hill struck out a team-high six batters.
Capping the final two innings was Jason Walker (Richmond), who also gave up four total runs, but only two were earned. Walker struck out three batters.
Maddox Locklear (Scotland) and Garrett Manning (Scotland) scored on a wild pitch and a passed ball, respectively, to get things going in the first. Gavin Jones (Purnell Swett) made it 3-0 when he raced home safely on a wild pitch in the second.
Back-to-back one-out doubles and a sacrifice fly plated all of Abderdeen’s five runs in the third. A two-out RBI single in the fourth gave Post 72 a 7-3 lead.
With one away and runners on second and third in the bottom of the fourth, Jabari Douglas (Richmond) recorded the first of his team-high three runs batted in. He grounded out to third base, which scored Isaac Hinshaw (Richmond, error).
An error at third base in the next plate appearance by Walker allowed Jones (walk) to score and cut Hamlet’s deficit to two runs.
Post 72 scored a run in the sixth on a balk and extended its lead to 10-5 with a two-RBI single to left field with two outs in the seventh.
John Carre (North Moore) and Hinshaw started Hamlet’s five-run seventh inning with leadoff walks, and Carre later scored the first run on a passed ball.
Conner Phifer (Richmond, error) and Riley Brown (Richmond, walk) reached safely to load the bases for Douglas. Facing a 2-2 count, Douglas roped a double to left field for his final two RBI to score Hinshaw and Phifer to make it 10-8.
Walker singled home Brown with a base knock to left field in the next at-bat to pull Hamlet within a run. Still with the bases loaded, Jacob Williams (Union Pines) grounded into a double play but brought in Douglas for the tying run.
Aberdeen retook the lead on a fielder’s choice in the top of the eighth, but Hinshaw recorded an RBI groundout back to the mound a half inning later. Scoring from third was Hill, who led off the inning with a single, one of eight hits for Hamlet.
An RBI single coupled with an error accounted for all three of Post 72’s runs in the ninth.
Brown and Douglas drew free passes to start the home half and Walker loaded the bases with a base hit. Brown made it a two-run game when he scored on a passed ball and Douglas raced home safely on a Williams sac fly to center.
Manning tied the game with an RBI single to center as Walker trotted in from third. Able to move to second on the throw, Manning was stranded at third later in the inning after a pair of groundouts.
The game-winning run came with two outs in the top of the 10th for Post 72. Phifer (walk) and Douglas (single) reached scoring position in the home half with two away, but a groundout ended the comeback attempt.
Douglas, Walker and Manning each had two hits in the game, which was tied for the team lead. In addition to Douglas’ three RBI, Williams, Walker and Manning all drove in one run.
Tuesday’s meeting with Aberdeen was supposed to be a doubleheader, but due to the length of game one, game two was postponed. No date has been announced yet for the makeup game, head coach Chip Gordon confirmed.
Hamlet (2-5, 0-3 Area 3) will try to get its first Area 3 Conference win of the season when it hosts Chatham County Post 292 Thursday at 7 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: Game Changer statistics provided by Ryan Brown.
