HobbsDailyReport.com
Taylorsville Post 170 rallied for four runs in the eighth inning to beat Hickory 6-4 on Sunday night in American Legion baseball at the Legion Fairgrounds in Newton.
Led by Trae Starnes going 4-for-5 and Tyler Campbell driving in two runs, Post 170 (3-1) won behind a 14-hit attack and survived making four errors.
Derek Dyson added three hits for Taylorsville.
Hickory, held to eight hits with Austin Houser going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, made five errors in the loss.
The teams combined to leave 19 runners stranded – 10- by Taylorsville – and finished the game in just two hours, 32 minutes before a crowd of 88.
Dyson was the winning pitcher in relief of Tanner Waddell, who went six innings and gave up five hits, three runs (one earned) with no walks and eight strikeouts. Dyson pitched one inning before Rhyne Johnson tossed the final two to earn his second save of the season.
Weston Kerley took the loss for Post 48, going two innings in relief of Pierson Hanvey. Hanvey threw six innings, giving up eight hits and one run with two walks and two strikeouts. Kerley allowed six hits, five runs (three earned) with a walk and two strikeouts.
Taylorsville’s next scheduled game comes Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against Burke County at Shuey Field in Morganton.
Post 48 meets Burke County on Monday night at 7 p.m. at the Legion Fairgrounds in Newton. Hickory then goes to Cherryville for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday before facing Burke County again (Thursday, 7 p.m., Shuey Field).
Caldwell protests game: Cherryville’s 15-7 victory on Saturday night over Caldwell County Post 29 at M.S. Deal Stadium in Granite Falls was played under protest.
Here’s a condensed account of what led to the protest, as posted on Caldwell County’s website:
Cherryville led 3-2 in the fifth inning and had the bases loaded with no outs when Post 29 manager Myron Day went to the mound for the second time in the inning. Day called to the bullpen for reliever Issac Bush to replace Post 29 starter Trent Black.
After Bush gave up a run-scoring sacrifice fly to the first batter he faced, he got an out on a ball hit back to him. A Cherryville runner scored from third when a throw home was not made in time, making it 5-2.
When the next batter doubled in run, Day came to the mound to talk to Bush. When Day returned to the dugout, the home plate umpire informed Day he would have to remove Bush from the game.
Day then gave notice he was protesting that decision.
Post 29 officials indicated in their post that the most likely scenario – if the protest is upheld – would be for the game to resume (at the point of the protest) when Caldwell County visits Cherryville on June 27.
By American Legion rules, the game would resume with two outs in the top of the fifth inning with runners on second and third and Bush pitching.
Caldwell County is not scheduled to play this week until Wednesday, a home doubleheader at 5 p.m. at M.S. Deal Stadium against Haywood County.
Post 29 isn’t scheduled to play after that until a June 18 game against Hammond, Tenn., at the Legion Fairgrounds in Newton on June 18.