HAMLET — All of the scoring in Saturday’s non-conference baseball game was scored in the first inning — with all of the runs being plated by Hamlet.
The Post 49 American Legion baseball team used a fast start and another quality starting pitching performance to blank Wilmington Post 10 by a final score of 6-0.
Taking its second game in a row in as many nights, Hamlet used a six-run home half of the first to give James Eason (Richmond) a large cushion to work with from the mound.
Eason made his second start on the bump this summer and was dialed in during his six innings of work. Striking out three batters, Eason held Wilmington to just three hits and didn’t allow a run despite four walks.
After leaving the bases loaded in the top of the first, Eason settled in to face just four batters in each frame between the second and fifth innings. In the sixth, he retired Post 10 in order on two ground outs and a line out.
Jason Walker (Richmond) put a button on the win with a scoreless top of the seventh in relief. He pitched to four batters and used the second of two double plays turned by Hamlet’s infield to keep the shut out intact.
Ryder Whitaker didn’t make it out of the first inning on the mound for Post 10 as he faced the first nine of 12 batters to make an appearance for Post 49 in the big inning.
Whitaker went two-thirds of an inning and gave up six earned runs on three hits, two walks and two hit-by-pitches.
Hamlet mustered some two-out magic in the first after its first two batters went down on strikes. Austin Mooring (Union Pines) and Isaac Hinshaw (Richmond), fresh off his five RBI night Friday, were both plunked by Whitaker.
A single on the ground back up the middle by Evan Hodges (Richmond), the first of Hamlet’s six hits in the game, loaded the bases. Eason helped himself out with a patient plate appearance, drawing a walk to score Mooring.
Riley Brown made it a 2-0 lead in the next at-bat when he hustled out an infield single to third base. One of four players to collect one RBI, Brown drove in Hinshaw.
Just three pitches later, Landon Taylor (Richmond) broke the game open with a two-RBI base knock when he barreled the ball to center field. Eason scored easily and Hodges raced in from second base.
Jacob Williams (Union Pines) extended the inning with a free pass to reload the bases, which ended Whitaker’s outing. Entering in relief was Aiden McBride, who tossed 2.1 innings and gave up two hits.
One of those hits came against McBride’s first batter as Hamlet turned over the lineup to leadoff batter John Carre (Pinecrest). Like Brown, Carre reached via an infield single to the left side of the infield and made it 5-0.
Maddox Locklear capped the high-scoring inning in the next plate appearance when he was hit by a pitch. Trotting home was Taylor to pad Post 49’s lead to six runs.
The remainder of the game unfolded quietly as neither team sent more than four batters to the plate in a single inning, save for the bottom of the second when Hamlet sent five batters to the dish and stranded two runners.
Hamlet (9-4) will open Area 2 Conference play Monday at Wadesboro Post 446. The game will be played at Anson High School and begin at 7 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: Game stats provided by Hamlet’s GameChanger app and Ryan Brown.
