HAMLET — A jam-packed month and a half of baseball yielded a lot of positives for the Hamlet American Legion baseball team this summer.
Completing its third season of play after a 14-year break, all under the direction of head coach Chip Gordon, Post 49 returned to the playoffs in 2023.
While the program accomplished a lot in its 21-game season, Hamlet did come up just short of its ultimate goal of winning the Area 2 conference championship and qualify for the state tournament.
“We had a great season this year, the guys played a lot of baseball and everybody got better over the course of the summer,” Gordon said. “And that’s what it’s about. We got two of our three unsigned seniors to play at the next level and that’s what we’re trying to do as a program.
“We didn’t accomplish our overall goal of making the state tournament and playing to win that, but baseball is a humbling game. It teaches you how to deal with adversity and become a better man. These guys developed friendships they’ll be able to carry with them the rest of their lives.”
This year’s team fielded players from Richmond, Marlboro County, O’Neal, Pinecrest and Union Pines high schools.
Playing 18 regular-season games in a 27-day span, and a three-game playoff series in July, Hamlet finished the summer with an 11-10 overall record. Against Area 2 opponents, Post 49 went 5-3 and earned third place in the final standings.
Although the team took a step back by one place in the playoff seedings and won three fewer games than last summer, Hamlet finished a win shy of making it to its first Area 2 championship series since returning.
Receiving a first-round bye, Hamlet met No. 2 Carteret Post 99 in the second round. Post 49 dropped games one and three of the three-game series to end the season.
“We took players from five different high schools and within three practices we were able to develop a team,” Gordon explained. “They battled all season long, had great road trips and fought hard at home. This was a great summer and we enjoyed it very much.”
At the plate, Hamlet batted .258 as a team and was led in batting average by Asthon Phifer (.404) and Hunter Meeds (.366). Meeds and Phifer were second and third, respectively, in on-base percentage behind Markey Purvis (.479).
Six players reached double-digit hits — Phifer (23), Tristan Hunt (22), JD Scarbrough (19), Jackson Kuhn (15), Meeds (15) and Rylee Norton (11). Phifer’s seven doubles led the team and Hunt added five doubles and two triples.
Going yard twice to lead the team was Purvis, as Hunt, Scarbrough and Hunter Huneycutt each hit one home run. Leading the team in runs batted in were Kuhn (17), Hunt (14), Purvis and Norton (11 each) and Phifer (10).
Of the team’s 156 total hits, 39 went for extra bases (31 doubles, 3 triples and 5 home runs). Scarbrough’s 19 runs scored were a team-high, with Huneycutt crossing the plate 18 times.
A total of 13 different players recorded innings on the mound this summer, with Matthew Miller serving as the anchor of the pitching staff. He collected a 5-2 record in six starts and eight appearances, while recording a 3.55 earned run average in 38 innings.
Skyler Mathis (20.2 IP) and Kuhn (14.2 IP) each logged significant innings, while Hunt’s three wins in six relief appearances were second on the team and his 2.25 ERA led the way.
Post 49’s longest winning streak of the summer was three games, defeating Chatham, Horry County and Rowan to begin the campaign 3-1.
One of Gordon and the program’s goals each summer is to try and get unsigned players to join the college circuit. Phifer (St. Andrews University) and Miller (Erskine College) each signed this summer, bringing the total to seven players in three years.
Moving forward, Gordon hopes the Hamlet program continues to grow in popularity and success. He said plans are already in the process to work with Richmond Senior High School and newly-hired baseball coach Eric Brown to strengthen the program and develop a junior Legion team, too.
Another thing he hopes to accomplish with the junior team is establish a base of players that will allow Post 49 “not to have to reinvent the wheel each summer” in terms of its roster.
“I want to thank all the fans for their support and everyone who helped with day-to-day operations, including Daniel Diggs our PA announcer and Wendell Sessoms who ran the concession stand,” Gordon closed. “It was a complete team effort, and I can’t thank the community and our sponsors enough.
“We’re going to continue to grow our program and will hopefully be even better next summer. I’m looking forward to working with Coach Brown next year to build a junior and senior Legion team.”
