ROBBINS — Another summer of Hamlet Junior American Legion baseball wrapped up Wednesday.
Returning to the Area 3 Conference playoffs for the second straight season since returning to action in 2024, the Junior 49ers and head coach Anthony Hailey came up just short of staying alive in the double-elimination tournament.
Playing at North Moore High School, Hamlet faced Kannapolis Post 115 and suffered a 7-3 loss.
Trailing 1-0 after the first inning, Post 49 tied the game with its first run of the game in the top of the second. Kannapolis scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning and its final three runs in the fifth inning to make it a 7-1 deficit.
Hamlet attempted a late rally by scoring its final two runs in the top of the sixth, but couldn’t complete the comeback.
Post 49 had four hits in the game, led by Cooper Perkins’ two singles. Jaxton Watson had a double and Dean Cottle recorded one base hit.
Watson scored twice for Hamlet and crossing the plate one time was Willie Hooks.
Colton Trexler (5 innings) and Noah Wilson (1 inning) combined for Hamlet’s pitching effort. Trexler allowed seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits and had three strikeouts.
In his inning of relief, Wilson gave up just one hit and also struck out one batter.
Leading off the top of the second with a base on balls, Watson moved to second on a Jake Smith sacrifice bunt and took third base on a passed ball. Heads up base running allowed Watson to steal home and tie the game 1-1.
A similar situation unfolded in the sixth inning for Hamlet’s final two runs. Hooks drew a leadoff walk and Watson dug in for the next at-bat.
Barreling a double the opposite way to right field, Watson moved Hooks to third. An error, however, by the right fielder gave both Hooks and Watson time to race home and cut Hamlet’s deficit to 7-3.
Perkins and Cottle kept the late-game rally attempt going with a base hit apiece in the top of the seventh. A ground out for the second out moved both runners into scoring position, but the game came to an end on a pop out in foul territory a batter later.
The Junior 49ers finished the season with a 6-9 overall record, one win more than last season.
