Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - There has been plenty of exciting action as the American Legion junior and senior baseball teams are playing the final games of the regular season. Four teams are battling it out in the senior division for the top seed heading into the playoffs, and in the junior division, it is a two-way battle with only one game remaining. In the softball junior division, Cherryville Post 100 girls got back on track. All three divisions will end their regular seasons by the first week of July, with a few teams already finished.
Less than a week remains in the regular season, and four teams are still alive for the number one seed heading into the Area IV playoffs that begin July 5. Cherryville has a 1-game lead over Shelby, with Asheville and Caldwell County close behind. This year’s sleeper team, the Gaston Braves, has muddled the standings with a major upset of Asheville. The Braves also came to within 1 run of knocking off Shelby for a second time this season. Gaston cannot get the top seed, but they still have an opportunity to earn one of the top 4 seeds, which would allow them to open the playoffs at home. Cherryville, Shelby, and Asheville seem to be the teams to beat at the moment, but don’t sleep on Caldwell County or the Gaston Braves.
Cherryville Post 100: 10-1 (12-4)
Shelby Post 82: 9-2 (12-5)
Ashville Post 70: 9-4 (12-6)
Caldwell County Post 29: 6-5 (6-5)
Gaston Braves Posts 144&266: 7-7 (7-9)
Rutherford County Post 423: 6-9 (6-9)
Hickory Post 48: 4-9 (4-9)
Burke County Post 21: 3-9 (3-9)
Gastonia Post 23: 3-10 (3-10)
Sun 6/21- Caldwell County 13 Hickory 11, in the North/South Challenge at Shelby: Richland, SC 5 Cherryville 3, Florence, SC 9 Cherryville 7, Florence 6 Shelby 4.
Mon 6/22- Burke County 12 Caldwell County 8, Asheville 14 Hickory 0, Shelby 17 Gaston Braves 16.
Tues 6/23- Asheville 13 Gastonia 1, Gastonia 6 Asheville 4 (double header), Cherryville 11 Rutherford County 0, Shelby 15 Caldwell 11.
Wed 6/24- Rutherford County 8, Burke County 4, Rutherford County 13, Burke County 2 (double header), Cherryville 11, Gastonia 3, Asheville 10, Shelby 5.
Thurs 6/25- Gaston Braves 11 Asheville 2, Shelby 2 Rutherford County 1.
Fri 6/26- Shelby 10 Burke County 0, Cherryville 7 Gaston Braves 1, Hickory 4 Gastonia 2.
Sat 6/27- Cherryville 10 Burke County 0, Asheville 10 Rutherford County 3, Asheville 9 Rutherford County 2 (double header).
The Gaston Braves had an opportunity to shake up the standings this week by playing the three top teams: Cherryville, Shelby, and Asheville. They fell one run short to Shelby, 17-16, in a slugfest on Monday, June 22. The combined total of 33 runs is the second-largest total since 2018, when the American Legion reduced games to 7 innings. The Braves’ 16 runs tied for the largest total of a losing team during the same period. The game lasted just over 3 hours and saw 33 runs, 33 hits, and 14 walks. There was a total of 323 pitches tossed among 11 pitchers. Shelby had 16 hits, led by Landry Ohmstead with 4, Wyatt McSwain with 3, and Caleb Costner with 2 hits and 7 RBIs. Trey Costner led the Braves’ 17 hits with 3 hits, 2 home runs, and 3 RBIs.
The Braves traveled to Asheville on Thursday, June 25, to take on the defending Area IV and Southeast Champion Post 70 Cardinals. Gavin Smith had a huge night at the plate for the Gaston Braves. He blasted two home runs, one a grand slam. Trey Costner also had a solo homerun. Gavin Smith and Landon King led the Braves with 3 hits each as Asheville fell 11-2 in a major upset that gave Cherryville and Shelby a little breathing room.
On Friday, June 26, the Gaston Braves headed to Cherryville to face the first-place Cherryville Post 100. After knocking off two of the top three teams, the Braves were looking to complete the trifecta at Fraley Field. Cherryville Coach Bobby Dale Reynolds had his team focused and ready for the challenge. Coach Reynolds is the winningest American Legion coach in the state and one of the longest tenured. He has been around long enough to know not to take any team for granted. It was evident after 3 innings that Cherryville was locked in on the mission. The defense turned a double play in each of the first and second innings. Adam Rodgers hit a solo home run in the second for Post 100, and Gaston left the bases loaded in the third. Heads up base running by Tucker Sigmon put Cherryville ahead 3-1 after three innings. Sigmon hit a single for an RBI, then stole second base. As he went to steal third, the throw went into the dugout, and he was awarded home plate. In the fourth inning, Beckett Rinkus blasted a solo home run, followed by Adam Rodgers ' two-bouncing double off the outfield wall. After a sacrifice fly by Preston Henson, Cherryville led 5-1. In the fifth inning, Gaston once again left the bases loaded, and Cherryville added two more runs, which proved to be the final score, 7-1.
Cherryville’s success is due in part to the red-hot bats of Tucker Sigmon and Nate Rollins. During the last 5 games, Rollins has hit 12-for-18, scoring 9 runs, 6 RBIs, 5 doubles, 3 triples, 1 home run, and stealing 4 bases. Sigmon has gone 5-13, scoring 7 runs, 8 RBIs, 3 home runs, and 4 stolen bases. Cherryville Post 100 has hit 14 home runs on the season. Tucker Sigmon leads the way with 5, Beckett Rinkus has 3, Nate Rollins has 2, and Elliott Dellinger, Talon Dalton, Eli Black, and Adam Rodgers have 1 each.
Sun 6/28- Asheville at Cherryville, Gaston Braves at Burke County, Gastonia at Caldwell County, Hickory at Shelby.
Mon 6/29- Shelby at Cherryville.
Tues 6/30- Asheville at Gaston Braves, Cherryville at Shelby, Gastonia at Burke County, Hickory at Caldwell County.
Wed 7/1- Caldwell County at Burke County, Shelby at Rutherford County.
Thurs 7/2- Caldwell County at Asheville, Hickory at Cherryville, Shelby at Gastonia.
End of Regular Season.
Area IV Playoffs: Quarter finals July 5-9 (best of 5), Semifinals July 11-15 (best of 5), finals July 17-22 (best of 5).
NC State Tournament: Hosted by Gaston Braves at Sims Legion Park in Gastonia, NC, July 25-29.
Southeastern Regional/Midsouth Regional Tournaments: Fraley Field in Cherryville, NC, and Sims Legion Park in Gastonia, NC, August 5-9.
American Legion World Series: Shelby, NC August 13-18.
Only one game remains in the regular season for the juniors. Cherryville will finish in third, as its schedule is complete. Currently, a one-half game separates Burns and Shelby. The Burns and Gaston Braves Red game on Friday, June 26, was postponed, with no makeup date announced yet. If Burns plays only one more game, they will finish first with a win and second with a loss. If they play both remaining games, they finish first with two wins, tied for first if they split, and two losses would give Shelby first place. At the time of this article, no makeup date has been set for the game scheduled for Friday night. Currently, the only scheduled game is Burns at Gastonia on Tuesday, June 30.
Burns: 10-2 (12-2)
Shelby: 11-3 (12-4)
Cherryville: 10-4 (10-5)
Gaston Braves Red: 7-6 (7-7)
Lincolnton: 7-7 (7-7)
Gaston Braves Blue: 6-8 (7-9)
Gastonia: 3-10 (4-10)
Bessemer City: 0-13 (0-13)
*East Rutherford: 0-0 (4-4)
* As of June 23, all remaining East Rutherford games were canceled, and all previous games were treated as non-division games.
Sun 6/21 – Burns 8 Cherryville 1.
Mon 6/22 – Shelby 10 Gaston Braves Blue 0, Gaston Braves Red 10 Bessemer City 2, Gastonia 9 East Rutherford 5, Lincolnton 8 Cherryville 6.
Tues 6/23 – Gaston Braves Red 19 Lincolnton 7, Shelby 12 Bessemer City 2, Burns 11 Gaston Braves Blue 2.
Wed 6/24 – Cherryville 4 Shelby 0.
Thurs 6/25 – Gaston Braves Blue 8 Gastonia 6, Lincolnton 8 Bessemer City 3, Shelby 6 Burns 5.
Area IV: Quarter finals July 1-3 (best of 3), Semi finals July 5-7 (best of 3), Finals July 9-11 (best of 3).
NC State Tournament hosted by Post 100 played in Cherryville, NC, July 18-23.
*Post 100 upcoming playoff schedule Wednesday, July 1st, at home TBA, Thursday, July 2nd, at TBA, and if necessary, July 3rd at TBA.
The Post 100 girls snapped their five-game losing streak on June 22 against Rutherford County in a doubleheader. The losing streak included 3 games decided by only one run. Game one was won 8-0 and game two ended 10-3. In game one, Jenny Brown was the winning pitcher, allowing 3 hits, 0 runs, striking out 4, and walking 1 in 4 innings of work. Lydia Williams was the leading hitter, going 2-3, scoring 3 runs, and 2 RBIs. In the second game, the winning pitcher was Madeline Collins, who allowed 2 runs (0 earned) on 1 hit, struck out 2, and walked 2 in 4 innings. Cherryville collected 10 hits in the game. Riley Honbaier and Aniston Whitlock each had 2 hits, and Lilah Spangler had 3 RBIs. The two victories improved Post 100 to 6-8. Next up will be Monday, June 29, at Hickory, followed by a home stand against Rowan Blue on Thursday, July 2, followed by a trip to Hickory against the Post 48 Blue team on Monday, July 6.
Kendall Bachman .500 average, 11 runs scored, 5 RBIs, and 3 walks.
McKinley Ward .409 average, 2 runs scored, 3 RBIs, and 5 walks.
Grace Capps .375 average, 2 runs scored, 9 RBIs, 4 walks.
Lydia Williams .368 average, 9 runs scored, 6 RBIs, and 6 walks.
Natalie Day .333 average, 3 runs scored, and 1 RBI.
Grace Capps 39 put outs
McKinley Ward 26 put outs
Harper Lovelace 21 put outs
Lydia Williams 20 put outs
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