The Foothills Post 123 Senior Legion Team dropped three games this past weekend.
The Seniors hosted the High Point Hi-Toms on June 16, then went on the road the following day to face Asheville Post 70 in a double header.
Foothills fell 7-2 to High Point, then lost to Asheville 11-8 and 17-6.
June 16 vs. High Point
Foothills struggled at the plate early on in Friday’s game, but limited High Point’s scoring despite multiple hits from the visitors.
High Point recorded five hits in the first two innings, nearly half of its 12 total hits in the game, but only scored once in that span. This was due in large part to a pair of double plays forced by Post 123.
The Hi-Toms put their first two batters of the game on base with singles, but then a ground ball to second base set Post 123 up for a double play. Brison George (Mount Airy Class of ‘24) fielded the grounder, tossed to Max Lambert (Surry Central ‘23) to tag second base, then Lambert rifled a throw to Kam Hawks (Mount Airy ‘24) at first.
A ground out left a Hi-Tom runner on third.
High Point then led the second inning off with a double. The Hi-Toms hit a line drive to right field where Bryson Bennett (North Stokes Class of ‘23) made a catch that the High Point baserunner didn’t expect. With the runner nearly at third base by the time the catch was made, Bennett threw to Lambert for the double play.
High Point later scored a run in the top of the second inning, but Foothills had a chance to respond in the inning’s bottom half. Anthony Ayers (East Surry ‘22) doubled to the fence in right field with two outs on the board, then advanced to third when a hit from Ashton Gwyn (Mount Airy ‘23) was mishandled.
Gwyn successfully stole second, but both runners were left on after a strikeout.
Foothills only had one hit across the next three innings – a single from Bennett. High Point, meanwhile, brought its lead up to 6-0 on 10 hits.
Lambert opened the bottom of the sixth by reaching first on an error, but was thrown out at second on a fielder’s choice hit by Luke Bowman (East Surry ‘22). Clay Whitaker (Surry Central ‘23) sent a hard hit to the first baseman that ended up in the outfield. Bowman beat the throw to third on the hit, and Whitaker went to second on the throw.
Post 123 found new life with two runners on. A bouncy grounder hit by Bennett brought Bowman in for a run, then a ground out from Hawks sent Whitaker to the plate.
High Point added its final run in the top of the seventh. Foothills still had some momentum, though, as the Hi-Tom’s at-bat ended with a runner’s interference call and a pickoff on back-to-back batters.
Gwyn was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the seventh. Foothills put the ball into play three times in the inning, but two were flyouts and one was a groundout.
Ethan Edwards (North Surry ‘22), Ayers, Lambert and Bennett split time on the mound for Post 123. The four pitchers combined for five strikeouts, four walks, three hit by pitches, and seven runs allowed on 12 hits.
Scoring
High Point – 0, 1, 2, 2, 1, 0, 1 = 7
Foothills – 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0 = 2
June 17 at Asheville (Game 1)
Foothills played as the away team in its first of two games against Asheville Post 70.
Asheville jumped out to an early lead in a game that saw 22 combined hits – 11 from each team. Post 70 scored three runs in the first, third and fourth innings to take a 9-3 lead at one point.
Big hits kept Foothills competitive early on. Hawks opened the top of the second inning with a solo home run, which served as Post 123’s first hit of the game. Hawks, as well as the next two Foothills batters to record hits – Whitaker and Bryson Redmond (Bluefield) – would each finish with three hits in the game.
Whitaker reached scoring position later in the second after hitting a single and stealing, but was left on base. Redmond then doubled in the third inning and reached third after tagging up on a flyout, but was also left on.
Hawks picked up his second hit with a single in the top of the fourth. Whitaker then crushed a home run out of center field to cut the lead to 6-3.
Beau Callahan (Elkin ‘23) was walked in the top of the fifth, then advanced to second when Ethan Ball (West Stokes ‘22) was hit by a pitch. Hawks reached first on an error that brought Callahan home.
Asheville’s lead grew to 10-4 by the end of the fifth inning. Down but not out, Gwyn and George were both walked in the top of the sixth. Both runners were scored on a line drive hit by Redmond, then a triple from Callahan brought Redmond in for run No. 7.
Asheville swapped pitchers, but it wouldn’t matter as his first batter – Ball – scored Callahan with a single to bring in Foothills’ fourth run of the inning. Hawks singled after Ball’s RBI to move his teammate to third, then the pair of runners were left on after a strikeout.
Post 70 added its final run in the bottom of the sixth.
Whitaker doubled in the seventh as he nearly hit for the cycle, having already hit a single and home run in the game. Whitaker was called out going to third on a fielder’s choice, then Asheville forced two more outs to solidify its victory.
Brady Edmonds (Surry Central ‘22) and Gwyn combined to throw the six innings of Game 1. The pair combined for eight strikeouts, two walks, one hit by pitch, and 11 runs allowed on 11 hits.
Scoring
Foothills – 0, 1, 0, 2, 1, 4, 0 = 8
Asheville – 3, 0, 3, 3, 1, 1, X = 11
June 17 vs. Asheville (Game 2)
It was Foothills’ turn to hold the advantage in Game 2 against Asheville.
Asheville, now competing as the away team, scored four runs in the top of the second inning, though its lead wouldn’t last long. Foothills matched Asheville’s four runs in the bottom of the second, then raised Post 70 with two more scores in the fourth inning.
Edmonds started Post 123’s momentum in the second inning with a leadoff double. Bases were then loaded after Lambert was hit by a pitch and Redmond was walked.
Asheville picked up two outs as bases remained loaded, then Foothills picked up three consecutive hits. Ball scored Edmonds and Lambert with a RBI double, Hawks scored Redmond with a single, then Whitaker – who recorded another three hits in Game 2 – brought Ball in with a double.
Hawks and Whitaker were joined on base by Gwyn after the latter was walked, but a strikeout left the runner on base.
Whitaker started things off in the fourth inning with a single while facing a full count. Gwyn moved Whitaker to third with a single of his own, then both runners scored on Edmonds’ second double of the game.
Post 123 entered the fifth inning up 6-4 after trailing 9-3 through the same amount of innings in Game 1.
Post 70 quickly changed momentum in the fifth inning with three runs. Asheville would score 13 runs across the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, while holding Foothills without a hit during that span.
Foothills used five pitchers in Game 2: Callahan, George, Whitaker, Ball and Aiden Shropshire (Surry Central ‘23); they combined for seven strikeouts, six walks, one hit by pitch, and 17 runs allowed on 19 hits.
Scoring
Asheville – 0, 4, 0, 0, 3, 4, 6 = 17
Foothills – 0, 4, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0 = 6