POST 48 SCHEDULE, RESULTS
Final record: 12-20
MAY
25, Cherryville, Lost 5-8 (9)
27, Randolph County, Lost 3-8; Won 10-2
28, Maiden, ppd., June 22
31, at Maiden, Lost 4-9
JUNE
1, at Mocksville (Rich Park), Lost 0-9
2, at Taylorsville (Alexander Central HS), Won 3-0
3, Henderson County, DH, Won 3-2, 9-3
4, at Cherryville (Cherryville HS), Lost 3-10
7, at Gaston Braves (South Point HS), Lost 2-7
12, at Lincoln County (E. Lincoln HS), Won 7-5
14, Lincoln County, Lost 1-3
16, Burnsville, DH, Won 9-1, Won 11-0, 5 inn.
17, Mocksville, Won 5-4
18, Napoleon, Ohio, Lost 4-14
20, Caldwell County, Lost 4-18, 6 inn.
22, Maiden, Won 7-6, 9 inn.
24, at Asheville, DH (Asheville Roberson HS), Won 10-6; Lost 7-8
25, Taylorsville, ppd., June 29
26, at Rutherford County (McNair Field), ppd., June 28
27, Rutherford County, ppd., June 28 at Rutherford County
28, at Rutherford County, Lost 1-0, Lost 7-5, 8 inn.
29, Waverly, Ohio, Lost 5-7; Taylorsville, Lost 3-9
30, at Burke County (Shuey Field), Lost 2-4
JULY
1, Burke County, Won 3-2
2, Cherryville, 7 p.m.
4, at Caldwell County (M.S. Deal Stadium), Lost 7-9
PLAYOFFS
Game 1 at Fairgrounds: Gaston Braves 8, Hickory 0
Game 2 at Belmont Abbey College: Gaston Braves 5, Hickory 4
Game 3 at Fairgrounds: Hickory 7, Gaston Braves 6
Game 4 at Belmont Abbey College: Gaston Braves 8, Hickory 4
HobbsDailyReport.com
BELMONT – Dosi Jonas went 4-for-4 and drove in two runs on Tuesday night, leading the Gaston Braves past visiting Hickory 8-4 to close out a first-round Area IV American Legion baseball series.
The Braves (13-10), an East No. 5 seed, won a best-of-5 series that left Hickory Post 48, a West No. 4 seed, with a final record of 12-20.
Gaston starts a second round series, also best-of-5, against East top seed Shelby (21-1) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Shelby High.
Hickory — which reached a .500 overall record five times during the season (4-4, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10) and got above .500 once (8-7) — closed the year by going 2-11 over its last 13 games.
A 5-run fourth inning at Belmont Abbey College helped the Braves close the series.
Jonas had an RBI single early on, giving Gaston a 1-0 lead, before Post 48 scored three runs in the top of the second inning to lead.
Hickory, which left 10 runners stranded, had the bases loaded in the fourth inning but reliever Cameron Hilton pitched out of the inning without Post 48 scoring.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Braves scored five runs to lead 6-3.
Jordan Lathe went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs for Gaston while Ethan Shell and Ben Bowman each added two hits.
The Braves beat Hickory in four of their five matchups this season – on Tuesday night, 7-2 on June 7 at South Point High and 8-0 and 5-4 in the first two games of the first-round series.
Post 48 stayed alive on Monday night by rallying for a 7-6 home win over the Braves at the Legion Fairgrounds.
The loss on Tuesday closed the fifth season for Cameron Beard, a former star player for Post 48 who took over as head coaching after his senior season of playing baseball at Catawba College.
Beard, whose prep career was for Bunker Hill, has guided Post 48 (unofficially) to a 68-80 record that includes four straight playoff bids.
Post 48 reached the Area IV semifinals in 2015, Beard’s second season, but Hickory has not advanced past the first round since.
POST 48 ROSTER
No./Player/High school/Class
1 Pierson Hanvey, Hickory, 2018
2 William Stewart, Hickory, 2019
3 Bryce Stober, Hickory, 2019
4 Carrington Chapman, Bunker Hill, 2018
5 Jacob Fuller, Hickory, 2018
6 Dylan White, Bunker Hill, 2019
7 Bryson Smith, Bunker Hill 2017
8 Macory Mitchell, Hickory, 2019
9 Kevin Shuford, Hickory, 2019
10 Dylan Roberts, Bunker Hill, 2019
11 Seth Moore, Bunker Hill, 2020
12 Eli Moser, Bunker Hill, 2018
13 Jake Speaks, St. Stephens, 2019
14 Brody Scarborough, Hickory, 2019
15 Seth Pennington, Bunker Hill, 2020
16 Luke Martin, Fred T. Foard, 2019
17 Bradley Fleenor, Hickory, 2018
18 Caleb Peschel, Fred T. Foard, 2019
20 Dawson Wallace, home schooled, 2019
23 Riley Edwards, St. Stephens, 2017
24 Luke Durham, Woodberry, 2018
25 Janson Mammosser, St. Stephens, 2018
Head coach: Cameron Beard