INMAN, S.C. – For the second time in four days, Inman Post 45 traveled to Historic Duncan Park for a League Five contest against the Spartanburg Post 28 Mustangs. A strong showing on the mound and hot bats powered Inman to a 14-2 victory over Spartanburg in five innings.
Right-hander Jacob Cogdell toed the slab for his second start of the season and settled in early. In the opening frame, the Newberry College signee recorded two strikeouts and worked around a pair of hits to keep the Mustangs off the board. Cogdell turned around in the second and retired the side on just 10 pitches, striking out two more batters. On the night, he finished with nine strikeouts in four innings of work, holding Spartanburg to a run on five hits. “He has just been lights out,” exclaimed Inman coach Mark Line about Cogdell’s first two starts. “He’s been taught how to pitch and is around the zone. He doesn’t walk people and doesn’t get himself in trouble. He doesn’t hang his curveball and throws hard enough. I really like him a lot.” “I felt really good and definitely settled in after the first inning,” said Cogdell. “I stayed in a groove and kept them off balance all night. They kept swinging late and swinging through (the fastball), so I kept attacking them with it. I knew that I just needed to go out there, do my job, and get us back out there to put up more runs.” Inman’s batting order found a spark in the first as Corben Childers singled the opposite way to right field, driving in Johann Rodriguez for a 1-0 lead. One inning later, Post 45 posted a big inning by sending 12 to the plate and scoring nine runs. Jarren Metcalf drew a leadoff walk and scored on a Cason Owens single to right. Hudson Wilson earned an RBI the hard way on a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded, followed by a Kaden Roach two-run double off the left-centerfield wall and a Childers two-run single. Perry Dyer, Luke Compton, and Rodriguez each notched an RBI base hit in the fourth, which helped build a 14-0 advantage for Post 45. Spartanburg used consecutive doubles – one apiece by Garrett Fulmer and Ian Squires – to get on the board in the bottom of the frame. The Mustangs added another run in the fifth on a Dee Davis single. “You’re lucky to have a couple of nights like that,” Line stated about the offensive output. “There’s no magic to it. The kids are going up to the plate, taking good swings, and hitting the ball where nobody’s standing.” “They like being around each other and I think that helps make them comfortable at the plate. When the guy ahead of you gets a double, you don’t want to be the guy who doesn’t. Hitting kind of manifests itself by making the next guy want to hit.” Childers went 3-for-4 with a triple and three RBI, while Dyer and Compton each recorded two hits in four at-bats. Rodriguez also finished 2-for-3 with two RBI, while Roach was 1-for-2. Dyer tallied three RBI on the evening, while Metcalf notched two hits and scored three times. Inman (3-0) will hit the road again on Tuesday, this time to the Timken Sports Complex for a league matchup with Buffalo, scheduled for a 7 PM start. SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Friday night’s game at Historic Duncan Park marked the 90th home opener for Spartanburg Post 28 at the old ballpark, as the Mustangs hosted longtime foe Inman Post 45 for a League Five matchup. What began as a back and forth battle suddenly changed as an offensive outburst propelled Inman to a 15-4 victory over Spartanburg.
Spartanburg struck for three runs in the first inning, two of which scored on a pair of Inman errors while an Avery Still sacrifice fly plated another. Inman sent nine up to bat in the second and recorded four straight hits – one each by Corben Childers, Ricky Montalvo, Cason Owens, and Jarren Metcalf – at one point during the frame. Owens smacked a single to center that scored Childers, followed by a Metcalf two-RBI base knock which plated Owens and Montalvo and tied the game at three. Three batters later, a Johann Rodriguez single to center drove in Metcalf and gave Inman a one run lead. “It was fastball, adjust, and line drives up the middle,” said Metcalf. “It felt great at the plate tonight. I’m getting to play (on the same team) with guys that I never got to play with growing up. I’ve known them since we were five or six years old playing against each other.” With the game deadlocked at four, Inman took advantage of two miscues. Childers crossed home plate on a Metcalf RBI fielders’ choice, while Montalvo scored on a Spartanburg error. Metcalf advanced to third on the play and sprinted home on a wild pitch, which gave Post 45 a three-run lead. With a Mustang runner on first and one out, a pop up drifted across the first base line into foul territory, where Inman catcher Hudson Wilson tracked it down and quickly fired the ball to second baseman Perry Dyer at first base to double off the runner and end the frame. “I thought it was heading over more towards Ricky,” Wilson recalled. “I didn’t get my body turned, then I looked up and (the ball) was right there, and then I threw to first. It helped Ricky a lot to get out of that inning and throw one more for us.” An Owens sacrifice fly and a Metcalf opposite-field triple to right in the sixth, along with a Childers grand slam down the left field line in the seventh off a two-strike offering, provided the final margin for the contest. “I was sticking with the same approach I had throughout the game,” stated Childers. “I was thinking backside, but I got an inside pitch and drove it. It hit the bat perfectly. We’ve got that grit to us, so we just kept on battling and ended up taking it all the way. That’s our approach every game.” Metcalf went 3-for-4 at the plate with a game-high five RBI, while Childers was 4-for-5 with four RBI. Johann Rodriguez also went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Montalvo earned the win by tossing four innings, striking out three and holding Spartanburg to four runs. Aaron Sewell and Jack Settle combined for three shutout innings and seven strikeouts out of the bullpen for Post 45. Inman (2-0) will make a return trip to Historic Duncan Park on Monday for a league matchup with Spartanburg (1-1), scheduled for a 7 PM start. INMAN, S.C. – It was a wild Wednesday evening as Inman Post 45 baseball opened its 2023 season against the Gaffney Post 109 Crusaders at Jim Everhart Field. In the late stages, Inman pieced together a rally and emerged with a 6-5 victory over Gaffney.
Tied at one entering the fifth, Gaffney broke through and took its first lead. After a base hit and walk, a Post 45 throwing error plated a run and allowed two Crusaders to move into scoring position. Two other miscues allowed the Crusaders to plate four runs in the frame for a 5-1 advantage. In the home half of the sixth, Kaden Roach launched a two-strike offering over the left-center field wall for a solo home run, which cut into the deficit and provided a much needed spark for the Inman offense. Corben Childers singled to center field and later scored on a wild pitch, trimming the deficit down to two. “I was just trying to get on base any way that I could,” said Roach. “I really thought that it was a double off the bat. I think it’s great for the team. It shows that it doesn’t matter what’s going on or how many runs you’re down by, that you can always come back and (make a) play.” Ricky Montalvo drew a free pass, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Luke Compton opposite-field single to left. Jarren Metcalf worked a walk and touched home plate on a wild pitch, tying the game at five. Compton advanced to third during the play and scored on a passed ball, putting Inman in front by a 6-5 margin. “I was trying to slow down,” Compton stated. “In my first couple of at-bats, I felt that I was speeding up, so I wanted to slow down to see the ball and hit it. We kept talking about having grit and that’s how we have to play. It felt great (to score the go-ahead run), with it being opening day. I’ve played against some of these guys (on the Inman team), so it feels good to be teammates with them. They’re all good ballplayers.” At the plate for Post 45, Johann Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with a double to right-center, followed by Compton with two base hits and two runs scored. Hudson Wilson also recorded an RBI sacrifice fly in the third inning. On the mound, Inman starter Jacob Cogdell faced one batter over the minimum in four innings of work, striking out seven while holding the Crusaders without a hit and yielding one run. Kyle Dill notched the save for Post 45, while Perry Dyer picked up the win. “I think we were sitting in the dugout over those first couple of innings waiting to break out offensively,” Inman coach Mark Line remarked. “It took longer than we thought but when we did, the kids went up there and put some good at-bats together.” “I thought the way the kids responded in the seventh with the double play was great. Hudson Wilson took it and made the exact right play and (Hudson) Moss did a nice job on the turn. These guys come from good programs and have been coached well. They understand that if you make a mistake, the next guy has to pick you up. I think that’s what we did tonight.” Inman (1-0) will travel over to Historic Duncan Park on Friday for a league matchup with Spartanburg (1-0), scheduled for a 7 PM start. UNION, SC - All over the state of South Carolina, the third straight season of American Legion softball began with more teams than ever before with over 22 different American Legion branches sponsoring teams this year. The Upstate of South Carolina was a part of that as well as two of the original teams in Inman Post 45 and Buffalo Post 87 squared off at the Timken Complex in Union in a matchup of two outstanding teams that saw the two teams split the two games played on Tuesday night. The South Carolina American Legion softball league sees both teams on each game day play each other in two five inning games. Inman got the best of Buffalo in the first game as they used a big third inning to capture a 7-1 victory to open the new season with a victory. In the first inning Myah Salters led off the inning with a walk before advancing to second base on a walk to Leah Taylor. Salters gave Inman a 1-0 lead when she scored on a single to left field by Bella Ballenger. Buffalo tied the game in the bottom of the first inning at 1-1 when Caroline Davis scored from first when Sammetress Smith hit a double to centerfield. The third inning started off in a similar way as Salters started the inning with a triple to the right centerfield fence. She gave Inman the lead back at 2-1 two batters later when Taylor hit a single to centerfield. Bella Ballenger, Eliana DeYoung, Lillian Wilson, Addy Lawson, and Mya Codispoti all added runs in the third inning as Inman Post 45 had eleven batters come to the plate in the inning scoring six runs on four hits and three walks. Inman got a good pitching performance from Eliana DeYoung who pitched four innings for Post 45 while only allowing one run, six hits and striking out two batters. They also saw Alexis Floyd come on in relief to pitch the final inning for Inman as she set down all three batters she faced. Buffalo bounced back in game two as they took an early 8-0 lead in the first inning on their way to a 13-0 win in three and a half innings for a little revenge in the second game of the doubleheader. Inman will host their first game of the season on Thursday as they'll welcome Gaffney Post 109 and Buffalo will travel to Anderson Post 14. Chesnee Softball Falls To Anderson In DoubleheaderCHESNEE, SC - On opening night of the 2023 American Legion Softball season, Anderson Post 14 swept Chesnee Post 48 on Tuesday night.
Post 14 won game one 13-3 as Abbi Campbell, Talissa Cannady, KK Bolding, and MK Parnell each had two hits for Post 14. Parnell, Bolding, and Cannady each collected two RBIs as Cannady had a triple and Landry Woodson had a double for Post 14. Claire Owens and Jada Sellars each collected RBI singles while Olivia Tolleson had a RBI double. Post 14 also won game two 7-1 as Talissa Cannady picked up a pair of RBI groundouts for Post 14 while Charley Swartzel added a RBI sacrifice fly of her own. Maddie Stone also hit a RBI single while Abbi Campbell and KK Bolding each had a pair of hits with Bolding hitting a double. Harley Grady drove in the lone Post 48 run with a RBI single as Faith Wall collected a pair of singles and scored the run. Claire Owens, Jada Sellars, and Olivia Tolleson each collected a hit for Post 48. Chesnee Post 48 will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to Broome High School to take on Cowpens Post 125 as first pitch is scheduled for 6:00 PM for game one of two scheduled. |