Post 10 falls to Cherryville in extra innings

Wilmington Post 10 fell into the loser’s bracket at the N.C. American Legion Baseball State Tournament following a 4-3, nine-inning loss to Cherryville Post 100 on Sunday. 

Post 10 (23-6) held a 7-3 edge in hits, but also left seven runners on base.

Starting pitcher Lucas Mathews (Hoggard) was the hard-luck loser despite allowing only two hits in six strong innings. 

Grady Sotriffer (South Brunswick) led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a base hit and scored the first run of the game on a double from Camden Croom (New Hanover). Croom stole third base, but was stranded there. 

Cherryville scored all three of its runs in the fifth and maintained its lead until Post 10 mounted a rally in the seventh inning. 

Harrison Mears (South Brunswick) doubled and JB Brooks (Laney) followed with a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. 

Mears was thrown out at the plate on a fielder’s choice. Following a pop up, Jonah Campbell (North Brunswick) kept Post 10’s hopes alive with an RBI single to right field.

Gibson Todd (Topsail) worked a walk to load the bases. A seven-pitch at-bat from Sotriffer ended in another walk to tie the score. However, the inning ended on a strikeout to keep the winning run 90 feet away. 

Cherryville regained the lead in the ninth inning on a walk, sacrifice bunt, and single. 

Owen Gore (Laney) walked with one out in the bottom of the frame, but the next two batters were retired. 

Brooks finished 2-for-4, while Todd went 1-for-3 with a pair of walks. 

Post 10 will be back in action Monday at 1 p.m. against host Gaston in an elimination game.