GIRLS OF SUMMER: Revived Post 21 softball squad rallies for opening win, splits doubleheader

The N.C. American Legion Lady Fastpitch Softball League started in Burke County in 2017.

It returned home after a two-year absence on Wednesday night.

Teammates during legion baseball season turned area rivals in legion softball, Burke County Post 21 hosted neighboring McDowell County Post 56 at Patton High School, and the teams split a season-opening doubleheader.

Post 21 pitcher Marleigh Carswell earned the win in game one, settling in after a shaky first inning as she appeared right at home in the circle, and for good reason.

After four standout years as a pitcher in the same circle in high school ball, the Patton 2025 graduate Carswell allowed just two baserunners after the opening half-inning and did not issue a walk in the contest, striking out three in a five-inning complete game as she scattered five hits in a 4-3 comeback win.

McDowell answered with a 6-3 victory in game two as it plated five runs in the final two innings to pull away.

“It’s a good league, and McDowell is going to be one of the stronger teams,” said Post 21 head coach Mike Hasson, who founded the league in 2017. “They gave us a good challenge. But I was proud of my girls.”

Carswell — a Montreat College recruit who led all county prep players in strikeouts this spring — allowed the first three McDowell batters to reach base and score off three hits in the opening frame before she settled in for good.

She recorded 1-2-3 innings in both the second and third, yielded only a two-out single in the fourth, and made sure McDowell didn’t take advantage of a leadoff double in the fifth as following a sacrifice bunt, she induced a popout and flyout to end the one-run victory.

“She got out of (the jam),” Hasson said. “I told her, ‘This is why you’re doing this, because you want to face those kinds of situations. This is why you’re at legion right now, because you’re getting ready to go play college ball. And this can’t do nothing but season you up and get you ready for that.’”

With Carswell cruising, Post 21 methodically worked its way back into the game at the plate. Makenzie Powell (infield single) trimmed the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of the first off, a sister-act RBI single from fellow middle infielder Maddison Powell, a Draughn 2024 graduate who recently finished her first collegiate season at Caldwell Tech.

Jolann Buff walked and scored on a two-out error in the third before Kayden Maines and Ellie Shuping opened the fourth with walks and crossed home plate with the tying and go-ahead runs via a Carswell single and Maria Medrano sacrifice fly.

“We stuck with it and stayed focused enough to be able to come back,” Hasson said. “We just had to recover. These girls are mature players. … We did what we had to do, got runners on. And when they got on, we moved them.”

In game two, both teams scored a first-inning run, and things remained tied at 1-1 until McDowell pounded out seven hits spanning the final two innings to seize a 6-1 advantage.

Post 21’s Reagan Webb and Madelyn LeMaster opened the bottom of the fifth with consecutive infield singles and each scored via error before the hosts’ late rally was cut short.

Buff (single) plated Medrano (walk) for Post 21’s early run, and Makenzie Powell led the way with two singles in the contest. Carswell and Shuping both drew a walk after Buff and Maddison Powell also reached on walks in the opener.

LeMaster yielded five earned runs with three strikeouts, pitching the whole way for the hosts.

Post 21 committed just two errors in the doubleheader and turned two double plays in the nightcap despite falling.

“We got a lot of effort (defensively) from these girls, and I still hadn’t seen a lot of them in different positions, a lot of them are new to me,” Hasson said. The team’s roster features a collection of current or former Patton, Draughn, and Freedom players.

“But they stepped up, and we can put a squad out there to play defense,” he added. “Mentally, I think they know what they’re doing at their positions.”

Post 21 was playing its first games since the end of the 2022 regular season as it did not field senior legion teams in either of the last two summers.

Post 21 and McDowell had previously played each other in the 2019 and 2021 senior legion seasons, with Post 21 going on to claim two of its three total division titles in those seasons.

The Legion Lady league opened with 11 teams in year one and roughly doubled in size from year one to year two and again over year two to year three, when it featured approximately 40 senior legion teams (as well as 25 junior legion teams) across the state before the COVID nationwide season cancellation of 2020 was among the factors that had led to its recent decline.

Last summer, there were only “six or seven” teams statewide, Hasson said. This season, that number is close to 20 teams, with the majority in the western part of the state.

“I’m passionate about it and excited to be back as part of it,” Hasson said. “We started (the league), and it’s just a blessing to be able to come back to it and try to keep it growing. We’re building it back.”

Post 21 is back on the diamond in a junior-senior legion twin bill set for next Wednesday (June 11) against Caldwell County Post 29 at Baird Park in Hudson.

Burke junior legion also splits

The Burke County Post 21 junior legion squad also started the season with a split two nights earlier, losing 10-0 before taking a 6-2 win in game two of a doubleheader on Monday night against Cherryville Post 100 at Cherryville’s Ballard Park.

Madelyn Hudson led Post 21 at the plate with two hits including a triple as she scored two runs and drove in one run. Maines (triple, RBI) and Buff (double, walk) both recorded extra-base hits for the guests, and Finley Duvall (two walks, run) and Webb (single) drove in a run apiece.

Jaiden Bame (run) and LeMaster also reached base for Post 21 via walks, with LeMaster also earning the win from the circle after she struck out six and allowed just four hits in a five-inning complete game.

Post 21’s Emmalin Clark and Madysn Goines drew a walk apiece in the first game, with Annaliese Cochran, Bella Creegan (3 K), and Maines (2 K) all pitching.

Post 21 plays again on Monday against Hickory Post 48 at Patton High School at 6:30 p.m.