MOCKSVILLE — The message Monday from head coach Chip Gordon was “win each inning,” which the Hamlet American Legion baseball team did in response.
Limited to just nine players, Post 49 didn’t let its smaller roster hold it back on the road at Mocksville Post 174.
Using a productive night on the mound and at the plate by Dylan Tilson (Scotland), Hamlet secured a 10-7 victory.
An early 3-0 lead was wiped away for Post 49 in the third, but the bats came alive in the top of the sixth, which yielded Hamlet’s final seven runs.
Tilson, who made his first start for Post 49, threw six innings to earn the win. He allowed five runs (four earned) on four hits, while striking out four batters and walking three.
To start the scoring in the sixth, Tilson blasted a solo shot over the elevated wall in left field off reliever Cooper Whitley, his first longball of the summer.
Riley Brown (Richmond) closed out the seventh inning to record the save. He gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits and struck out a pair of batters.
Post 49 had 12 hits in the game, with each of the nine players having at least one hit. Carter Bean (Pinecrest) led the way with a trio of singles and added two runs batted in.
John Carre (Pinecrest) added a double and a single and matched Bean with a team-high two RBI. Tilson, Evan Hodges (Richmond), Robbie Peed and Brady Fowler (both Scotland) each had one hit and one RBI.
Brown, Maddox Locklear (Scotland) and Jacob Williams (Union Pines) finished the game with a single apiece.
Hamlet scored a solo run in each of the first three innings off starter Sean Doty (five innings, three runs, seven hits, five walks). Carre recorded an RBI on a ground out to the right side in the first to score Hodges (walk).
Adding to the lead were Hodges and Bean, who singled home a run in the second and third innings, respectively. Hodges hustled out an infield single to short to score Bean (single) and Bean lasered a single to center to bring home Carre (double).
Mocksville tied the game with a two-RBI single and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third. Tilson opened the game by retiring Post 174 in order in the first and second innings and settled in with 1-2-3 frames in the fourth and fifth.
After Tilson teed up his solo bomb off Whitley (0.2 innings, six runs, four hits), a Locklear single, a hit-by-pitch to Hodges and a free pass to Williams loaded the bases.
Locklear raced home to score on a passed ball and Hodges scored in the next plate appearance when Carre skied a sacrifice fly to right field to make it a 6-3 lead.
With two gone, Peed and Bean connected on back-to-back RBI singles to make it a five-run advantage. Bean’s single back up the middle, which scored Peed from second, proved to be the eventual game-winning run.
Entering to pitch was Alexander Shinsky (0.1 inning, one run, one hit), who gave up an RBI base knock to left field to Fowler. Scoring Hamlet’s final run of the game, Fowler advanced home after an errant throw by the catcher sailed into left field.
Mocksville loaded the bases to start the bottom of the sixth and scored on a 6-4 fielder’s choice. Attempting a double play to first base, a throwing error allowed Post 174 to tally another run.
Tilson struck out the next batter for the second out and Locklear made a diving grab behind the mound for the final out.
Brown sat the first batter of the seventh down on strikes, but loaded the bases and allowed runs on a single and a passed ball. Another strikeout and a 6-3 putout by Hodges to Fowler ended the game.
Hamlet (7-3) plays again Thursday against the Garner Nationals. The non-conference game will be played at Campbell University and start at 7 p.m.
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Monday’s game soon.
