HAMLET — It was a summer to remember for the Hamlet American Legion baseball team.
Across the board, statistically and performance-based, 2024 was the best summer of Post 49 baseball since its resurgence in 2021.
At season’s end, Hamlet had a 24-7 overall record, a total of 10 wins better than its previous season-best in 2022.
That record included an 8-0 run through conference play, which secured Post 49’s West Division title during the regular season.
The summer was highlighted by five wins to begin the campaign and a 13-game winning streak which started June 13 and spanned through July 8, marking another program-best since returning for its fourth season.
The dozen and a half players from Richmond, Moore and Scotland counties helped clinch the Area 2 Conference championship in walk-off fashion against Wilmington Post 10 earlier this month, paving the way to the program’s first bid to the state tournament since 1997.
Winning one of its three games in the state tournament, Post 49 lost to Union County and the Garner Nationals, sandwiching a win over High Point in between to hold off elimination.
Although the 49ers and fourth-year head coach Chip Gordon didn’t bring home a state title as they’d hoped to do, this season was cause for celebration for what Gordon said helped put Hamlet back in the conversation as a potential perennial powerhouse.
“This season was great, it was a really good summer of baseball for our program,” Gordon said. “At the beginning the guys really meshed well and bought in really quickly to what we wanted to do and it showed early by winning our first five games.
“When we did struggle or lose, they knew if they stuck with the game plan it would work out. This was a great group of guys to coach and we enjoyed it as a staff. This team put Hamlet American Legion baseball back on the map and proves we are here to stay.”
During the preseason, Gordon expressed his belief and confidence that Hamlet’s pitching staff would anchor an already impressive and productive offensive output.
One aspect of the game it’s lacked the past three summers, Hamlet’s pitching proved to be the pulse that set the tone the past two months.
In 31 games played, Post 49 recorded eight shutout victories and combined to throw 26.1 innings of consecutive scoreless baseball across six games during the 13-game winning streak.
Using over a dozen pitchers, the staff racked up a 2.36 earned run average across 201 innings pitched. Keeping opposing hitters to a .226 batting average, Hamlet limited teams to 94 runs (3.03 per game) on 168 hits (5.42 per game) while striking out 163 batters (5.26 per game).
Just 68 of those runs scored were earned and Hamlet’s pitchers combined for a 1.32 WHIP.
Jason Walker (Richmond) developed into the team’s ace, etching a 6-0 record in eight starts, both team-highs. Walker also led the team in innings pitched (42) and strikeouts (29), while registering a 2.00 ERA.
A trio of Richmond pitchers — Riley Brown, James Eason and Evan Hodges — secured four wins apiece.
Brown went 4-0 in five starts, threw 26.1 innings and led the team with a 1.32 ERA and 28 Ks. In six starts, Eason posted a 4-1 mark with 38 innings, 21 strikeouts and a 1.65 ERA.
Doubling as middle infielder and catcher, Hodges threw 17 innings with a 4-2 record. He sat down 22 batters via the punchout and had a 4.11 ERA.
Jeremiah Ritter (Richmond) supplied three wins in four starts (21.2 innings), complemented by 21 Ks and a 2.26 ERA.
Dylan Tilson (Scotland) emerged as the closer in the bullpen. He was perfect in his three save opportunities, one more than Brown, and went 2-0 with two starts and 19 innings pitched.
Striking out 15 batters with a 2.21 ERA, Tilson led the staff with a .156 batting average against.
Rounding out the bulk of Hamlet’s relief pitching were two Scotland right-handers — Brady Fowler (16.2 innings, 8 Ks) and Robbie Peed (9 innings, 6 Ks).
“Our biggest strength this year was our pitching,” Gordon shared. “That was something we hadn’t had a whole lot of in the past, and this summer we had numerous arms to turn to for quality innings.
“We were able to get more than 12 guys time on the mound and that experience paid off late in the season. In the playoffs and the state tournament, we were confident with our choices of who would go in at any time. Our pitching and defense kept us in games all season and our bats came alive late.”
The team’s confidence always remained high that it would be able to produce runs at the plate. Despite losing some of its biggest bats from the year before, Hamlet batted .301 as a unit.
Knocking 243 hits (7.83 per game), Post 49 padded the scoreboard most nights by plating 218 runs (7.03 per game). A total of 43 hits went for extra bases, including four homers, led by JD Scarbrough’s three long balls (Pitt Community College). Tilson had the other home run.
Drawing a total of 176 base on balls (5.68 per game), Hamlet recorded a team on-base percentage of .443. The 49ers swiped 61 bases this season, good enough for a 92.4% success rate.
Six batters hit over the .300 mark who had at least 55 plate appearances — Isaac Hinshaw (Richmond, .387), Maddox Locklear (Scotland, .366), Scarbrough (.329), Eason (.322), John Carre (Pinecrest, .315) and Hodges (.308).
Equally as impressive were the seven hitters to record an on-base percentage north of .400 — Hinshaw (.515), Locklear (.495), Brown (.463), Scarbrough (.455), Hodges (.454), Eason (.440) and catcher Jacob Williams (Union Pines, .418).
Carter Bean, who had 30 plate appearances in 18 games, batted .526 with a .667 OBP and proved clutch several times in big moments.
Austin Mooring (Union Pines) and Landon Taylor (Richmond) stacked up batting averages of .250 and .184, respectively.
Locklear finished the season as the team’s leader in total hits (30) and tied for first in singles with Hodges (27), one of six 49ers to surpass the 20-hit mark. He added a pair of doubles and one triple.
Hinshaw’s 29-hit effort yielded 22 base hits, four doubles and a trio of triples, which tied him with Scarbrough for the team lead. Hodges tallied 28 hits, all of them singles, except for one double.
Eason matched Hodges with 28 hits and swatted six two-baggers, the same number as Scarbrough, which led the offense. One of Eason’s hits was a triple as he connected for 21 singles.
Fifteen of Scarbrough’s 27 hits were base knocks. Carre rounded out the team’s top hitters with 23 hits (20 singles, 3 doubles).
Serving as the leadoff hitter for the majority of the season, Scarbrough recorded team-highs in runs scored (29) and runs batted in (22).
Eight other players notched double figures in runs and RBI — Eason (26 runs, 16 RBI), Hodges (24 runs, 19 RBI), Locklear (20 runs, 17 RBI), Hinshaw (19 runs, 17 RBI), Taylor (18 runs, 13 RBI), Carre (17 runs, 15 RBI), Brown (15 runs, 11 RBI) and Williams (13 runs, 14 RBI).
When asked what the defining moment of this season was, Gordon said it was a culmination of several things.
“Getting to the state tournament was really our pinnacle, and the goal every year is to get there and win it,” Gordon explained. “Winning our division undefeated was big and that turned into us winning the outright Area 2 Conference championship, which was really important, too.
“Making it to the state tournament and earning a win there showed how much we’ve grown as a program. And that is an achievement that will continue to drive our program forward.”
With the close of another season, Gordon said the program is already looking forward to building upon its recent success.
“We are going to celebrate our season with the guys at our banquet and then start looking toward next summer,” Gordon said. “We’re going to keep getting the word out there that we want quality guys who can play and keep working on Memorial Park to make Post 49 baseball a fun experience for the community.
“I’m extremely excited and proud of the guys. For those who are aging out, I really appreciate them and the work they’ve put in. And to all of our high school and college guys, I wish them good luck.
“And of course a big thank you to our sponsors, the Hamlet American Legion and the City of Hamlet,” Gordon closed. “We couldn’t do what we do without all of their help and each of them played a big part in our success.”
The Hamlet American Legion baseball team will hold its end-of-season banquet Thursday.
Sports editor’s note: All statistics used in this article were provided by Hamlet’s Game Changer app.
