POST 240 SALAMANDERS SCHEDULE
(Home games at Maiden High)
MAY
25, Kings Mountain (at Bandys), Won 9-2
26, at Lincoln County (E. Lincoln HS), ppd., May 30
27, at Cherryville (Cherryville HS), ppd., June 3
28, at Hickory (Legion Fairgrounds), ppd., June 22
30, at Lincoln County (E. Lincoln HS), Won 8-0
31, Hickory, Won 9-4
JUNE
1, Union County, Won 5-4
2, at Shelby (Shelby HS), Won 13-0, 5 inn.
3, at Cherryville (Cherryville HS), ppd.
4, Gastonia, Lost 6-9
6, at Belmont (Belmont Abbey College), DH, Won 8-2, 9-2
14, Mint Hill,Won 10-7
15, at Huntersville (Hopewell HS), Won 3-2.
16, Lincoln County, Won 15-5 (5 inn.)
17, Henderson County, Lost 5-9
18, at Kings Mountain (Kings Mountain HS), Won 5-0
19, at Burke County (Shuey Field), Won 10-0, 5 inn.
20, at Mint Hill (Independence HS), Won 4-1
22, at Hickory (Fairgrounds), Lost 6-7, 9 inn.
25, Pineville, DH, Won 8-5, 5 inn.; Won 7-4, 5 inn.
27, at Union County (Wingate), Lost 3-5
29, Shelby, Lost 9-10, 8 inn.
30–at Gastonia (Sims Park), Lost 9-10
JULY
2, Huntersville, 7 p.m.
3, at Cherryville (Cherryville High), 6 p.m.
HobbsDailyReport.com
GASTONIA – Eight Gastonia Post 23 players drove in runs on Saturday night in a 10-9 victory over Maiden that dropped the Salamanders into a virtual tie for third place in the East Division of Area IV American Legion baseball.
Playing at Sims Park, Gastonia (9-6, 8-5) was sparked by two RBIs by Tyler Bradley (North Gaston) and two hits by Jason Odem (Forestview) as it dealt Maiden’s Salamanders (14-7, 12-5) their third straight loss and fourth in sixth games.
Shelby has already clinched the East Division title, and Union County (10-3) went into weekend action in second place.
Maiden has two regular-season games left — at home (Maiden High) on Monday at 7 p.m. against Huntersville to close the East Division schedule and Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Cherryville.
If Gastonia and Maiden end up tied, Gastonia will get a higher seed because it also defeated Maiden 9-6 in Maiden on June 4.
The Area IV regular season ends Thursday and first-round pairings are scheduled to be determined on Friday with first-round series starting on Saturday.
The Salamanders grabbed a 2-0 lead in their first at-bat at Sims on Saturday night but were behind 6-2 coming out of the inning after Gastonia scored six runs in the bottom of the inning.
A four-run top of the third inning drew Maiden even at 6-all, and the Salamanders scored a run in the top of the fourth inning to lead 7-6.
Gastonia took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth inning with two runs, 8-7, and was ahead 10-7 after scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Salamanders scored twice in the top of the sixth inning to close the gap to a run.
Jay Sipe (Maiden) led the Salamanders, going 4-for-4 and scoring four runs. Josh Frye (Statesville Christian) added three hits and drove in three runs, Mac Beam (Bandys) had two hits and two RBIs, and Grayeson Brown (Maiden), Dylan Abernathy (Maiden), Bryson Ledford (Maiden) and Cy Spencer (Bandys) each added an RBI.
Ledford took the loss in relief. He was the third Salamanders pitcher, going two-thirds of an inning, giving up two hits, three runs (two earned), walking two and striking out none.
Heath Griffis (Bessemer City) got a win after relieving Isaack Toval (Ashbrook). Toval went 5 1/3 innings, allowing 11 hits, eight runs (seven earned), walking none and striking out four. Griffis pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowing two hits, a run (earned) with no walks and one strikeout.
The Salamanders outhit Gastonia 13-6 but they made twice as many errors (four) as Post 23 did in the loss.
Maiden — which started the season 5-0 and was 8-2 after 10 games — has given up a season-high 10 runs in each of its last two losses, the other coming Friday in eight innings (10-9) at home against Shelby.
SALAMANDERS ROSTER
No./Name/Class/Post./School
1, Bain Sipe, sophomore, INF-RHP, Maiden
2, Dylan Abernathy, sophomore, OF-RHP, Maiden
3, Jacob Cauble, freshman, INF-RHP, Maiden
4, Jay Sipe, senior, INF, Maiden
5, Grayson Brown, junior, INF, Maiden
6, Austin Hoyle, freshman, C, Maiden
7, Ryan Lyda, junior, OF-LHP, Bandys*
8, Ross Fowler, sophomore, RHP, Maiden
9, Cy Spencer, junior, INF-OF-RHP, Bandys
10, Bryson Ledford, senior, RHP-OF-INF, Maiden
11, Ty Williams, freshman, OF, Berea College
12, Taylor Tibbs, freshman, INF, Bluefield State
20, Spencer Ledford, sophomore, INF-RHP, Bandys
21, Noah Caldwell, junior, RHP, Bandys
22, Drew Huffman, sophomore, INF-RHP, Maiden
23, Josh Frye, senior, OF-RHP, Statesville Christian
24, Jacob Ellis, junior, C, Bandys
26, Will Harbinson, junior, 1B, Maiden
30, Tyler Laws, senior, RHP-1B, Statesville Christian
31, Mac Beam, senior, OF-INF-RHP, Bandys
32, Jarrett Isaac, junior, OF-INF, Maiden
34, Brantley Durham, senior, C-INF, Newton-Conover
40, T.J. Rasar, senior, RHP, Bandys
44, Peyton Laney, sophomore, 1B-RHP, Bandys
*–inactive (injury)
Head coach: David Williams; Assistant coaches: Frank Porter, Ryan Pendley, Dustin Hull, Jason DeHart; AD: David Williams Sr.
Team sponsor: Carolina Glove & Safety.