HAMLET — As the dog days of summer remain hot, the Hamlet American Legion baseball team hopes to keep its hot streak going this week.
Following a five-day break for the Fourth of July holiday, Post 49 and head coach Chip Gordon will return to playoff action starting Monday.
No. 1 Hamlet will begin its best-of-five game series with No. 2 Beaufort Post 99 during the second round of the Area 2 Conference playoffs.
Winners of their last 12 games, the 49ers are looking to advance to the Area 2 Conference championship series for the first time since Hamlet rekindled its program in 2021.
Ahead of the mid-summer holiday, Hamlet cruised past Moore County Post 12 with a two-game sweep in the first round.
Post 49 outscored Moore County 26-5 between the two games, the second of which featured a combined five-inning no-hitter by Riley Brown (Richmond) and Brady Fowler (Scotland).
The meeting between the two programs will be the second straight summer Hamlet and Beaufort have met in the second round. Last year, Hamlet lost the first and third games of a three-game series to be eliminated.
Gordon, however, said he’s “got a good feeling” for Hamlet to not only take the series, but also win the Area 2 Conference championship and make a strong run at the state title.
No. 1 Hamlet (19-4) has home-field advantage in the series and will play the first two games at Memorial Park.
When Beaufort Post 99 (10-4) hosts, the game(s) will be played at East Carteret High School.
Below is the schedule for the second round playoff series between Hamlet and Beaufort:
Game 1: Monday, July 8 at Memorial Park (7 p.m.)
Game 2: Tuesday, July 9 at Memorial Park (7 p.m.)
Game 3: Wednesday, July 10 at East Carteret (7 p.m.)
* Game 4: Thursday, July 11 at East Carteret (7 p.m.)
* Game 5: Friday, July 12 at Memorial Park (7 p.m.)
Sports editor’s note: An asterisk denotes a game if needed.
