The Wilmington Post 10 baseball team solidified a favorable seed in the upcoming North Carolina American Legion State Tournament following a 6-1 victory over Whiteville Post 137 at Buck Hardee Field on Monday night.
Austin Kenyon (Hoggard) delivered a strong start for Wilmington, tossing four shutout innings, with seven strikeouts. Post 10 broke open a scoreless game with five runs in the bottom of the third thanks to three miscues in the frame and carried a 6-1 advantage after five full innings of play.
Wilmington used five other relievers to preserve the win, improving to 20-2 overall. Stephen Hagewood (Laney/Methodist University) worked the fifth, D.C. Russ (Ashley) recorded three outs in the sixth and Cam Godfrey (Hoggard) pitched the seventh. Trey Croom (New Hanover/N.C. Wesleyan) and Brandon Boone (Hoggard/Guilford Tech) recorded the final six outs to close out the result. Post 10 pitchers scattered just four hits.
At the plate, Boone paced the lineup with a multi-hit game, while Kennedy Hardy had two runs scored. Matt Suggs smacked a double and picked up three RBI’s.
After cruising to a three-game sweep in the opening round of the Area II best-of-five series against Jacksonville the week prior, Post 10 faced off against Whiteville in a one game playoff to decide the higher seed out of Area II.
Despite the outcome of Monday’s contest, both clubs advance to the eight-team state championship tournament set for July 22-26 on the campus of Wingate University. Wilmington Post 10 opens play against Rowan County at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
N.C. American Legion Tournament qualifiers
Area I: No. 1 Pitt County, No. 2 Garner
Area II: No. 1 Wilmington Post 10, No. 2 Whiteville Post 137
Area III: No. 1 High Point, No. 2 Rowan County
Area IV: No. 1 Union, No. 2 Caldwell County
