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. (First-game win changed to double forfeit by Area IV ruling on July 2)
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, Won 10-2
3, at Cherryville (Cherryville High), Won 1-0, 9 inn.
HobbsDailyReport.com
MAIDEN – Maiden Post 240’s Salamanders face Burke County Post 21 in the first round of the Area IV American Legion baseball playoffs.
No. 6 West BURKE COUNTY (6-11) vs. No. 3 East MAIDEN (15-8)
Game 1: Saturday at Maiden High, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Sunday at Shuey Field, Morganton, 7 p.m.
Game 3: Monday at Maiden High, 7 p.m.
Game 4, if needed: Tuesday at Shuey Field, Morganton, 7 p.m.
Game 5, if needed: Wednesday at Maiden High, 7 p.m.
Maiden (15-8, 12-6) finished third in the East Division and Burke County (6-10, 6-9) is the West No. 6 seed, with the first game in a best-of-5 series scheduled Saturday at 7 p.m. at Maiden High.
Game 2 is Sunday at 7 p.m. at Shuey Field in Morganton with Game 3 set for Monday at 7 p.m., back at Maiden High.
Maiden and Burke County met once in the regular season with Maiden winning 10-0 in five innings on June 19 in Morganton.
The Salamanders ended up third in the East – behind Shelby and Union County – after having a victory from a doubleheader taken away earlier this week.
Maiden and Pineville played two five-inning games on June 25 with Maiden winning 8-5 and 7-4, but a ruling by Area IV officials reverted the first game to a double forfeit and the second game results went down as a Maiden victory.
The ruling dealt with the games not being played a full seven innings (Legion baseball changed from nine-inning games to seven innings for the first time this season).
In the first ruling released, both games were said to be double forfeits. But Area IV Commissioner David Coffey, after a review, said the first game would be a double forfeit because it did not go seven innings and the second game victory would stand for Maiden, as the teams were dealing with rainy weather all night.
Maiden head coach David Williams indicated in an email to league coaches and Area IV officials that the Salamanders did well to get any baseball played because of the weather (the games ended near midnight that night).
Had Maiden not had to forfeit, it would have tied Union County for second place in the East at 13-5. Since Maiden and Union County split in the regular season, the Salamanders would have gained the No. 2 East seed via having beaten division champion Shelby. Shelby swept Union County in the regular season.
Union County gained the East No. 2 seed and opens the postseason Saturday at home against West No. 7 seed Henderson County.
“The latest ruling of one played game and one forfeit is still not a decision made with the kids’ best interest in mind,” Williams told The Newton Observer News Enterprise. “We played our games and we got punished for it.
“I’m not happy about it, because it could very well affect our playoff seeding and the remainder of the year, and it’s not fair to our program and it’s not fair to our kids. They’ve worked hard to put us in the position we are in, and for it to be taken from us, is disheartening.
“I have lost faith in the American Legion Baseball leaders, but we will get through it. It’s over and now we can do is play ball, like we have all year.”
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.