Friday, October 2, 2026
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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - We've reached the midway point of the tournament with day three. Only two more days and a champion will be crowned. After today's competition, the field will have been cut in half as two more teams face elimination today. Today's first two games are elimination contests, and the nightcap will leave one team undefeated heading into Tuesday's semifinal round, and the other will drop to the elimination bracket. Any of the remaining teams can win it all. The seeding has leveled out after a few surprising results on opening day. We are in for some exciting games.
Action today got underway with Cherryville Post 100 and Stokes Post 290-West in game one. Stokes Post 290 got on the board first in the top of the 2nd. Charlie Reeves led off with a base hit to centerfield. Logan Bloodworth and Jeb Presnell are walked by starting pitcher Camden Williams. The bases are loaded when Hunter Anderson is hit by a pitch that scores Reeves. Coach Stan Haynes makes a pitching change, bringing in Kenan Stewart. He strikes out the first batter he faces, Banks Fant, on a foul tip to the catcher. Cameryn Phipps hits into a fielder's choice, and an error allows courtesy runner, Jaxon Melton, to score. Stokes go up 3-0 when Chris Bennett singles into centerfield and Hunter Anderson crosses the plate. Stewart retires the next batter, Bentley Joyce, on 3 strikes. It appeared Cherryville had something going in the bottom half of the inning. Blake Mincey led off with a walk. He then stole 2nd. Cannon Whitesides flies out to centerfield, but not deep enough to advance the runner. Bryson Withers walks, then Karter Willis hits into a fielder's choice, and Mincey is tagged out at 3rd. No runs, however, Cherryville produced base runners this inning, now to bring them in. The momentum carried over into the bottom of the 3rd as Post 100 broke onto the scoreboard. Kenan Fowler reached on a fielder's choice and stole 2nd and 3rd. A two-out ground ball to centerfield off the bat of Davin Digh brings Fowler home. Post 100 now trails 3-1. The fourth inning belonged to Cherryville as they put on a scoring clinic. The Post 100 that we know so well, with solid hitting and aggressive base runners, had returned. Bryson Withers started things with a walk, and Karter Willis beat out a bunt to the pitcher for an infield single. Willis would steal 2nd to place two runners in scoring position. The potential tying run, Coleman Schafer, stepped up to the plate. Willis took advantage of a passed ball and cut the score down to 3-2. Post 100 was only down one run. Schafer's walk put runners at the corners. Stokes Post 290 made a pitching change, with Trenton Fraley replacing Cameryn Phipps. Schafer immediately steals 2nd, and Chandler Wooten gets hit by a pitch. Now, the bases are juiced with no one out. Kenan Fowler gives Cherryville the lead as his single drives in Willis and Schafer. This would be their first lead of the game, and they were not even close to being finished padding that lead.
The runners are at 2nd and 3rd with no outs when a pitch hits Blake Mitchell, and the bases are once again loaded. Davin Digh had the hit of the day with a towering shot to right field for a three-run triple. Cherryville has pulled ahead 7-3 and still has no outs, with Digh on 3rd. After Mincey walks, the third pitcher of the inning enters, as Jaxson Melton takes the mound. He gets off to a bad start as Mincey steals 2nd, Canon Whitesides rips a single, then he steals 2nd, score is now 8-3 with no outs, and Bryson Withers walks, loading the bases yet again. It's obvious the West Stokes is running thin at pitcher at this point. Mincey scores as Willis walks, the score is 10-3 after Schafer hits a sacrifice that scores Whitesides. Chandler Wooten works a walk, and Melton's day is done as the fourth pitcher of the inning. Banks Fant enters to attempt to stop the bleeding. Fowler drives in Withers, Willis scores on a passed ball, Mitchell singles as Wooten and Fowler each touch home plate. The score at this point is 14-3 with one out. The pitcher wanted no part of Digh's bat and gave him nothing good to hit, resulting in a walk. Courtesy runner, Luke Martin, enters the game for Digh and immediately steals 2nd. The bases are yet again loaded when Mincey walks. Whitesides hits a hard ground ball to left field that scores Mitchell and Martin. The score is 16-3. After Withers reaches first base with a walk, the fifth pitcher of the inning, Chris Bennett, replaces Fant. Kenan Stewart walks, which scores Mincey with one out, and the score is 17-3. The bases are still loaded when Schafer grounds into a double play. Stokes got two more runs; however, the game ended on the mercy rule after 4 ½ innings with a final score of 17-5.
West Stokes scored 5 runs on 6 hits and made zero errors. The top hitters for Post 290 were Chris Bennett, 2 hits, scored 1 run, and added 1 RBI, and Bentley Joyce, with 2 hits and scoring 1 run. Cherryville scored 17 runs, on 8 hits, and made 1 error. The winning pitcher was Kenan Stewart. The top three hitters were Kenan Fowler with 2 hits, 3 runs scored, and 3 RBIs, Davin Digh had 2 hits, while scoring 1 run, and drove in 4 RBIs, and Canon Whitesides collected 2 hits, scored 1 run, and added 3 RBIs. Cherryville's 16 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning are the most scored in an inning in this tournament thus far. Matthews held that distinction with a 13-run inning yesterday; however, Cherryville eclipsed that record. Post 100 was very aggressive on the base pads, tallying 10 stolen bases for the game. They were also very smart at the plate, drawing 16 walks for the game. West Stokes Post 290 is now eliminated, and Cherryville Post 100 will play an elimination game on Tuesday at 4 pm. Note: the games have been starting a few minutes before the posted start time, so you might want to arrive early so as not to miss any action.
Game two of the day matched Wilson Post 13 with Roanoke Knights Post 164. How would Wilson respond after being ambushed for 13 runs in the fifth inning yesterday by Matthews? As the designated visiting team, that question would be quickly answered. Lead off batter Davis Turner was hit by a pitch, and a pitch also hit the next batter, Mattox McKeel. Andrew Rine hammers a line drive to left field that scores Turner. Colson Gray singles to centerfield, followed by a walk for Tanner Pierce. Courtesy runner, Josiah Tavarez, scores when Conner McIntosh grounds out. Greyson Croker reaches on a bunt single, and Gay proceeds to score.
Zac Long's line drive to right field scores Tanner Pierce, and the throw allows Croker also to score. Rushing out to a 6-0 lead, it appeared Wilson had put all thoughts of Sunday's game out of their minds. Roanoke would begin chipping away at Wilson's lead in the bottom of the 2nd. A pitch hits Logan Rogers; he would advance later to 3rd on a passed ball. Brayden Perry's hard-hit grounder is mishandled, and he is safe due to the error. Rogers took advantage and scored. After Perry steals 2nd, Colin Lewis hits a two-run double. The Knights had cut the lead in half to 6-3, and in the bottom of the 4th, Braydon Perry started things off with a single, followed by Macon Harrell hitting safely to left field. Perry and Harrell would execute a double steal. Colin Lewis hits into a fielder's choice that sees Perry thrown out at home plate. Eason Taylor reaches on the error as Harrell scores on the play. A passed ball sends Lewis and Taylor to 2nd and 3rd, respectively. A hard-hit ball by Easton Warren to right field drives in Lewis and Taylor to tie the game at 6-6. Thoughts of blowing another lead had to be creeping into the back of the Post 13 players' minds. The Wilson players seemed determined to salvage this one. Andrew Rine hit a one-run double with two outs, which scored Davis Turner. Colson Gay's line drive drives in Rine. Wilson was back in the lead at 8-6. Roanoke failed to keep the game alive, and 8-6 was the final score.
Game three was a matchup of two 2-0 teams. Mathews Post 235 and South Caldwell Post 29. Sam Yin started things off for Matthews with a leadoff single, Aaron Dekeukelaere walked, Drew Knowles launched a bullet to left field, Yin tripped, leaving third base; however, the left fielder bobbled the ball, and Yin was able to score standing up. That's the only run they could muster before the inning's end. Matthews led early 1-0. The game became a pitcher's duel, aided by some good defensive play. This game was starting to have the feeling that it might be decided by which team would make a mistake. At the bottom of the fourth inning, I saw that exact scenario begin to play out. Chase Cardwell hits a ball to Sam Yin at third base, and the throw to first base pops out of O'Shaughnessy's. A few pitches later, Davis Long attempts to pick off Cardwell at first base, and the throw gets by O'Shaughnessy, and Cardwell uses his speed to make it to third base. Cardwell scores to tie the game at 1-1 on a base hit by Nathan Hall. Jacob Perkins lines to centerfield. Michael Craig hits a hard ground ball to Sam Yin at third base; Yin throws to first instead of getting the force at third. The throw is off target, and O'Shaughnessy is pulled off the bag. Cooper Dotson is safe at first base. Nathan Hall puts South Caldwell into the lead at 2-1.
The bases are loaded, but Davis Long pitches out of it without more damage. The two runs came off 3 hits and 3 errors. Matthews reclaims the lead in the top of the 5th. Christian Gegg scores the tying run as Drew Knowles reaches on an error. Aaron Dekeukelaere comes home as Jack Martin grounds into a fielder's choice, and Ben Baldauf lines a drive to right field that is deep enough to score Jack Martin. Matthews leads 4-2. Matthews would hold on to win even after committing seven errors. The win leaves them as the only unbeaten team and will play Tuesday evening at 7 pm against Wilson Post 13. South Caldwell scored 2 runs on 4 hits and made 2 errors. Koda Beard, Nathan Hall, Jacob Perkins, and Cooper Dotson each had one hit. Leading hitter for Matthews was Sam Yin with 2 hits and 1 run scored.
According to the bracket, Cherryville Post 100 will play South Caldwell 29 at 4 pm on Tuesday, and Wilson Post 13 will face Matthews Post 235 at 7 pm on Tuesday. This might be subject to change due to Matthews and Wilson having already played each other in the tournament. Please check either the Facebook page of Cherryville Post 100 Baseball or Cherryville American Legion Baseball Tournaments on Tuesday before heading to Fraley Field for confirmation of game times and matchups.
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