Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - We've made it to the final round and the final day of the 2025 tournament. Three worthy opponents squared off for the state title and a berth in the Southeast Regionals August 6-10 in Asheboro, NC. The winner of that tournament will play in the American Legion World Series in Shelby, NC, August 14-19. Much more than state bragging rights were on the line today. Asheville was automatically in the championship game by being victorious in the winner's bracket. Rowan County and Garner played to see which team would face Asheville in a winner-takes-all contest.
The winner of this game would have the daunting task of playing two games today, with the final matchup against Asheville Post 70. Garner was the designated visitors, and Rowan was the designated home team.
Aiden Taylor led off the game with a hard grounder to left field for a single. Carrick Ryan walked, and John Lupienski singles to load the bases with no outs. Cole Norris hits a sacrifice fly to score Taylor, Hayden Fones took a walk, and bases are juiced again with one out. Garner is looking for an early knockout punch when the next two batters strike out to leave the bases full; however, they did have a 1-0 lead.
Post 232's #32 Aiden Taylor batting - Day 5 - Legion Senior Tournament - Fraley Field - Cherryville, NC - July 30th, 2025
Mason Beam (WNN)
Luca Pruden reached on a short stop error in the top of the second with one out. Aiden Taylor and Carrick Ryan both hit singles to the outfield, Pruden comes in to score, John Lupienski sacrifices to advance the runners, and when Cole Norris singles, Taylor scores, Garner extends their lead 3-0.
Rowan County is not ready to see their season end yet and fight back in the bottom of the third. Gaige Scruggs bunts, and an error sees him safe at first. Cole Blevins advanced the runner with a sacrifice, and Marshall Faw followed that with a line shot to center field. Blevins and Faw are both able to cross home plate when Carter Durant lines a base hit to left field. The next two batters struck out, but not before Rowan County had closed the gap, 3-2.
Post 342's #23 Carter Durant batting - Day 5 - Legion Senior Tournament - Fraley Field - Cherryville, NC - July 30th, 2025
Mason Beam (WNN)
The Nationals widen the lead with a three-run bomb by Hayden Fones in the top half of the fourth inning, and the score is now 6-2.
Scrappy Rowan began a rally with two outs. Cole is safe due to an error; Williamson and Graham had already reached on an error and a bunt, respectively. Bases are loaded now, Williamson scores when Marshall Faw is hit by a pitch. Graham and Blevins will each touch home on a Carter Durant single. Once again, they had cut into the lead, 6-5.
The fifth inning began with this battle looking like a fight between heavyweight champions trading blows, with neither able to land a knockout punch. There was one out when Ajay Rychcik doubled off a line drive to center field. Lucas Pruden added a base hit. Aiden Taylor hit a hard ground ball to third that was too hot to handle. The error allowed Rychcik to streak home. Marshall Faw struck out the next two batters to limit the damage, 7-5.
The next inning, Garner added one more run to go up 8-5 as Hayden Fones scored on a passed ball.
It's the seventh inning, and one team is six outs away from advancing to the Championship, and the other is seeing their amazing season come to an end as they come up a little short.
Ajay Rychcik doubled on a line drive to right field. Lucas Pruden bunts to sacrifice Rychcik to second, Aiden Taylor hits a hard ground ball to center field, and Rychcik scores easily. Carrick Ryan bunts and beats the throw to first, runners at first and second with two out.
Post 232's #25 Ajay Rychcik batting - Day 5 - Legion Senior Tournament - Fraley Field - Cherryville, NC - July 30th, 2025
Mason Beam (WNN)
Garner knows no lead is safe, so they attempt to add as many insurance runs as possible. Cole Norris walks to load the bases with two outs. A wild pitch scores Taylor. Hayden Fones nailed a line drive to first and reached on an error. Ryan and Norris both scored 12-5 heading to the bottom of the seventh. Was this the knockout punch they had been searching for?
Rowan County came to bat with their season hanging in the balance. It would take seven runs to tie and 8 to win. With two strikeouts and one out left, the last batter also strikes out.
Rowan County fought hard this week and finished an amazing season for first-year coach Seth Graham by scoring five runs on six hits and making three errors. Garner scored 12 runs on 15 hits and committed four errors. They are now moving on to the Championship game.
The game everyone has been waiting for has arrived. All eight teams played well and fought tooth and nail. We are down to the final two, with only 42 outs left to see which team is standing. Fans, family, coaches, players, and even the umpires are anticipating a thrilling conclusion to our week of events. Both teams entered this afternoon's game with records of 28-3. Let's jump into the action and crown a champion.
Fans enjoying the championship game - Day 5 - Legion Senior Tournament - Fraley Field - Cherryville, NC - July 30th, 2025
Mason Beam (WNN)
Aiden Taylor opened the game with a double. Carrick Ryan sacrificed him to second. John Lupienski drilled a left-field line drive that scored Taylor, giving Garner the early 1-0 lead.
Asheville took its first crack at getting on the scoreboard. Back-to-back singles by Jordan Brown and Kolt Nelson started their half of the inning. After an infield fly, Caden Davidson was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with one out; however, they left all runners on base.
Aiden Taylor pushes the lead to 4-0 on a booming three-run homerun that left the park around the 380-foot marker.
In the bottom of the second, Hayes Hillier rips a standup triple over the right fielder's head that bounces to the wall. He is left stranded on a fly out to right field. Asheville is getting base runners but are having trouble finding timely hits to drive them home.
Post 70's #1 Hayes Hillier running home - Day 5 - Legion Senior Tournament - Fraley Field - Cherryville, NC - July 30th, 2025
William Phillips (WNN)
Asheville gets on the scoreboard as Evan Conner sends a no-doubter into the graveyard. The score after three innings is now 4-1.
Aiden Taylor hits his second double of the day (to go along with his 3-run homerun) to right field—Carrick Ryan bunts, and when the pitcher makes a bad throw to third, Taylor scores. Ryan scores when Hayden Fones hits a grounder to third base, and the ensuing error allows him to safely reach first. 6-1, Garner is slowly pulling away.
Asheville rallies back in the bottom of the sixth, and what a rally it was. Asheville flips the script. Sixteen batters came to the plate as Asheville went from being down on the scoreboard 6-1 to up 12-6 on 11 runs, five hits, three walks, two batters hit by pitch, and two errors.
Post 70 players meeting - Day 5 - Legion Senior Tournament - Fraley Field - Cherryville, NC - July 30th, 2025
William Phillips (WNN)
Garner's spirit was broken after that huge inning and went down in order 1,2,3 in the top of the seventh inning to end the game. Asheville showed why you never give up, no matter the score.
Garner and Asheville had tremendous seasons. Unfortunately, they ran out of pitchers, and Asheville took advantage.
Congratulations to Garner Nationals Post 232, the 2025 NC ALB runner-up, and to the Asheville Post 70 Cardinals, the 2025 NC ALB State Champions. We wish all the best to Asheville as they move on to play in the Southeast Regional beginning next Wednesday in Asheboro, NC.
The teams lining up for the awards ceremony - Day 5 - Legion Senior Tournament - Fraley Field - Cherryville, NC - July 30th, 2025
Mason Beam (WNN)
Thank you to everyone who came out to cheer on the teams and to all the volunteers and sponsors who made the tournament possible.
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