Scales hits two grand slams in Post 21 softball sweep

Former Table Rock Middle School standout and current rising Freedom freshman Kelly Scales said she had never hit a grand slam before Tuesday night.

She technically has still never had a day with a single grand slam.

That’s because Scales accomplished the feat twice for the Burke County Post 21 American Legion Lady softball team as it swept visiting Gaston County Post 144 by scores of 9-1 and 13-5, winning both run-rule contests in four innings at Patton High School.

The victories ended Post 21’s four-game losing skid as the club improved its record to 3-4.

“It was pretty cool,” the first baseman Scales said. “I had to adjust to the pitcher because the speed was throwing me off at first, but I felt like I made those adjustments.”

After Marleigh Carswell mowed down Gaston in order in the first inning of the opener, the first three Post 21 batters reached base and scored runs.

Shortstop Kyndal Morrison struck out but reached base after a dropped third strike, then right fielder Emma Fish lined a pitch back up the middle, striking the Gaston starting pitcher and knocking her out of the remainder of the evening’s action.

Catcher Jolann Buff followed with a walk to load the bases before third baseman Maddy Hudson plated two runs on a single to center field. After Carswell drew a walk, Finley Duvall’s base hit to center chased in the inning’s final run.

Hudson (infield single) scored Fish (walk, SB) in the second as she picked up another RBI to make it 4-0 before a Duvall bases-loaded walk brought in Buff (walk) for a 5-0 margin.

Scales then sent a towering blast to left-center to clear the bases as Hudson, Carswell, and Duvall joined her in touching home plate.

Gaston scored just one unearned run in the fourth as Carswell dominated in four innings, allowing three hits without a walk and striking out four.

Post 21 then went right back to work with the bats in game two, scoring five runs in the first inning, four in the second, and two apiece in both the third and fourth.

Five different players had RBIs in the opening inning, with the floodgates opening after Fish’s RBI double. Scales’ two-out grand slam to right provided all the scoring in the second, and Fish doubled and scored to highlight the hosts’ third inning before Hudson added a two-run walk-off single to left in the fourth.

“We were just able to get behind each other and put some hits together or get runners on, whatever it took when we needed to do it,” said Hudson, a rising junior at Draughn who ended the doubleheader with five hits, one walk, six RBIs, and three runs. “It was good for us to bounce back tonight and get that taste of losing out.”

Aside from Scales (GS, walk, five RBIs), Hudson (two hits, two runs, three RBIs), and Fish (two doubles, two runs, RBI), Post 21’s game two hitting standouts included Morrison (two hits, two runs), Buff (hit, RBI, run), Carswell (two hits, two runs, RBI), Kayden Maines (hit, RBI, two runs), and Harper Best (two hits, RBI).

Carswell (2 H, 2 BB, ER, K), Best (K), Maines (2 H, 2 BB, 3 ER), and Whitley Strange (2 H, 2 K) each worked one inning from the circle.

As a result, all but three Post 21 players switched positions at least once in the win, which also saw the hosts shift players around in the bottom half of the batting lineup.

“I felt like we made adjustments, changed some positions, moved girls around the lineup,” Post 21 coach Mike Hasson said. “Some players took on different roles and adapted to situations very well. Whether it be junior or senior legion, those are things that every player in the program has responded to and embraced with a team-first attitude. Burke County can be very proud of every lady in the Post 21 program.”

Post 21 late Thursday hosted Rutherford County Post 423 and returns to the field July 7 for a road doubleheader at Wilkes County Post 31 before ending the regular season at home against Caldwell County Post 29 on July 8.

Jr. legion swept at Hickory

The Post 21 junior legion softball squad (6-6) followed up its first doubleheader sweep last week by being swept for the first time all season on Wednesday evening by Hickory Post 48 at Lenoir-Rhyne University, falling by scores of 2-1 in game one and 10-5 in game two.

Best (4 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 2 R, 7 K) kept Post 21 in the opener with a solid effort from the pitcher’s circle and also added a hit at the plate.

Scales doubled and scored a run for the guests, Jaiden Bame singled and drove her in, and Lily Thompson reached base via both a single and a walk, with Strange also adding a single.

Strange (4 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 3 K) then pitched the whole way in the second game, and though she struggled a bit in the circle, added a 3-for-3 at the plate while scoring a run.

Also finishing a perfect 3-for-3 for Post 21 were Sophia Davis (double, triple, run) and Scales (two runs), while Bame (double) added another RBI, Thompson also drove in one, and Best scored a run.

The Post 21 junior legion squad visits McDowell High School to face McDowell Post 56 on Monday (June 29) before ending the regular season at home against Shelby Post 82 on July 6.