Post 21 baseball team wins big, loses close twice to even record at .500

After opening the season with a 10-0 win, the Burke County Post 21 American Legion baseball team outscored its three opponents in the past week by a 19-10 margin.

That stretch included another lopsided win but also included a pair of narrow losses as the team fell back to .500 at 2-2 early in the N.C. Area IV season.

Post 21 started the past seven days with a 3-1 home setback against Caldwell County Post 29 on June 7, then run-ruled Wilkes County Post 31 by a 16-4 margin on Monday before falling in its first road contest of the season, 3-2 in eight innings, on Thursday night at Rutherford County Post 423.

Two moments proved pivotal in Thursday’s outcome as Rutherford (3-2) slipped ahead of Post 21 — who was in fourth place out of 10 teams entering the game — in the standings.

Post 21 committed a two-out error that was followed by a triple to centerfield in the bottom of the first inning as the hosts seized a 1-0 lead.

Then after Post 21 had tied the game at 1-1 on a double steal as Zeb Koone took second base and Aaron Duncan scored in the third, the guests loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth on a Maddox Mosteller single, Landry Duvall walk, and Zach Carson single.

Duncan followed with a single to left for a 2-1 lead, still with no outs, but a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to the pitcher ended the half-inning before Post 21 could grow its lead further.

Post 21 did not manage a hit the rest of the way, with Rutherford tacking on the tying run thanks to more two-out production in the bottom of the fourth before a one-out triple and sacrifice fly ended things in walk-off fashion in the eighth.

“We had a big chance when we had the bases loaded and couldn’t put the ball in play, and that really hurt us,” said Post 21 coach Matt Baker. “But we played a good baseball game tonight. At the plate, we probably struck out too much. We’ve got to put the ball in play and make them make plays.

“We pitched it really well. Cohen (Christian) and Barger (Shook) threw really well. We gave them one in the first inning, and you don’t realize in the first if that’s going to dictate the outcome of the game, but if we don’t give them that one, maybe we win 2-1 before it gets to extras. But that’s just part of baseball.”

Christian started and allowed six hits and one earned run without a walk in 5 1/3 innings. Shook then recorded six outs, allowing two hits and one earned run with three strikeouts.

At the plate, Duncan led the way with a 2-for-3 day that included a walk, run, and RBI. Wyatt Hullette walked three times, Carson reached three times on a single, walk, and hit-by-pitch, and Duvall singled and walked.

Duvall also excelled behind home plate as the catcher threw out potential base stealers in back-to-back innings as part of four consecutive frames in which the hosts committed outs on the basepaths.

“Landry is great behind the plate,” Baker added. “He throws out a couple kids, makes a good play back there, and then we bring Barger in, who wants to throw to Cannon (Morrison). And Cannon comes in and throws somebody out. We’ve got great options at catcher.”

Post 21 was outhit by a 7-5 margin and committed the game’s only error but did not issue a walk while drawing seven walks as a team.

Against Wilkes three days earlier, Post 21 plated multiple runs in each half-inning it took the plate, with five runs in the bottom of the first, two in the second, three in the third, and finally six in the fourth to take a whopping 16-0 lead before the guests plated all four of their runs in the fifth.

Morrison (three runs), Hullette (two RBIs, three runs), and Mosteller (double, walk, three RBIs, two runs) each supplied a team-high two hits.

Brady Davis added a single and scored twice, and Duvall (walk), Rhett Houston (walk), and Kyle Self each singled, scored one run, and drove in one run. Carson (two walks, two HBPs, RBI), Shook (single), and Koone (walk) also scored a run apiece.

Self (42/3 IP, 5 H, 4 BB, 4 ER, 6 K) earned the win from the mound before Davis recorded the final out.

“We hit it up and down the lineup,” Baker said. “Kyle threw it really well. We probably hit 30 minutes in the fourth inning and came back out and he was a little tired. But he threw it great, and we hit the ball great.”

Against Caldwell late last week, Post 21 took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Laine Barrier recorded a leadoff single, advanced to second on a bunt single from Hullette, and scored on a one-out double from Cayden Barker. However, Caldwell scored three runs in the top of the fifth to account for the final margin.

Holden Woodward scored the tying run on an RBI single from Palmer Tucker, while a passed ball allowed Tayshaun Scott to score and an errant throw — Post 21’s second of the inning — brought in Tucker.

Despite the loss, Post 21 received strong work on the mound from starter Jacob Davis (6 IP, ER, H, 7 K, 3 BB, 3 HBP) and reliever Shook (IP, 2 K, 2 HBP). Meanwhile, Caldwell relievers Newt Rexrode (2 IP, H, 2 K, BB, HBP) and Blake McElyea (2 IP, H, 4 K, HBP) — the latter of whom graduated from Draughn High School in 2024 — earned the win and the save, respectively.

Post 21 also outhit Caldwell 6-1 behind a double and a single from Brady Davis, two singles from Hullette, and the aforementioned hits from Barrier and Barker, with Carson (two walks, HBP, SB) and Morrison (HBP) also reaching base.

Defensively, Post 21 threw out three runners on the basepaths. Jacob Davis picked off a runner at second in the third, while the catcher Morrison nabbed base stealers in each of the final two innings.

Post 21 next travels to East Gaston High School today (Saturday, June 14) to meet Gaston County Post 144-266 before returning to Shuey Field to host Gastonia Post 23 on Sunday and area-leading Shelby Post 82 on Monday.