Foothills West staved off a late comeback from Foothills East in a battle between Post 123 Junior Legion teams on June 17.
West and East combined for 24 runs in Monday’s game after combining for 23 just six days earlier. One game ended after five innings while the other spanned all seven, but the result was the same on both occasions — with Foothills West claiming the victory.
West won the June 17 game 14-10 to complete a season sweep of East.
Monday’s meeting seemed destined to follow a similar script to the teams’ June 11 game as West once again scored 11 runs across the first two innings. However, East battled back with 10 runs across the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. The visitors held West both scoreless and hitless after the fourth inning, but the late flurry wasn’t enough to overcome their cross-county foe.
East had opportunities to cut into West’s lead or even tie things up by loading the bases in both the sixth and seventh innings. However, both occasions ended with East leaving three runners stranded.
West tallied 14 hits despite not recording any after the fourth inning. Landon Gallimore led his team with three hits and was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle; the rising senior at Mount Airy High School tripled in the first inning, doubled in the second and singled in the third.
Nine different West players recorded at least one hit, three of whom joined Landon Gallimore with multiple hits: Will Pardue, Brayden Woodring and Bryson Grey. Five West players recorded one hit each: Davin Weatherford, Landon Johnson, Jax Whitaker, Kasen White and Fletcher Gallimore.
East’s JB Davis tied Landon Gallimore with a game-high three hits. Lincoln Lawson was the only other East player to record multiple hits, doing so with a pair of singles, while seven of his teammates recorded one hit each: Zach Keener, Brett Moser, Davis Seivers, Andrew Boles, Brian Cave, Drew Bullington and Asher Dawson.
West dominates early
The three-hour long game began with West scoring four times in the first inning. The home team’s first two batters lined out and struck out respectively, but the next six got on base.
Johnson got things rolling with a single, then stole both second and third base. An error on the throw to third allowed Johnson to go home for his team’s first run.
West finished Monday’s game with 13 stolen bases.
Whitaker, who was at the plate while Johnson rounded the bases, earned a base on balls, then scored on a triple from Landon Gallimore. Landon then scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0. Woodring followed with a single, then he stole two bases before scoring on a wild pitch.
Jayle Bryant and the West defense forced three up three down in the top of the second inning, then the bats remained hot for the home team in the inning’s bottom half.
Pardue singled but didn’t spend much time on base as Weatherford followed with a triple. Johnson then flied out, but the next six batters each recorded hits; Whitaker, White, Grey and Fletcher Gallimore each singled, Landon Gallimore doubled, and Woodring recorded his team’s third triple of the night. Pardue brought in the inning’s seventh and final run by scoring Grey on a sacrifice fly, putting the home team up 11-0.
East aims to erase double-digit deficit
East only recorded two hits across the first three innings, then matched that total through two batters in the fourth.
Keener and Moser each singled to begin the inning. Keener scored on a pickoff error at third base, then Davis followed with an RBI single to make it 11-2. Lawson followed Davis’ hit by earning a base on balls before Seivers singled to bring Davis in for run No. 3. Lawson made it 11-4 by scoring on a wild pitch.
Cave later grounded out to bring Seivers in for their team’s final run of the inning.
Not to be outdone, West responded with a trio of runs in the bottom of the fourth. Ian Hooker was walked before scoring on a hit from Grey, then Pardue brought Grey in with a single. Pardue later scored West’s final run of the night to make it 14-5.
Just like in the fourth inning, East started the fifth at the top of its lineup. Keener and Davis were both walked before Lawson scored Keener with a ground ball hit up the middle. West executed a fielder’s choice on a ground ball hit by Seivers, but bases were soon loaded when Ethan Wilson was walked. A balk sent Davis to the plate, then a ground ball hit down the left-field line by Boles cut the lead to 14-9.
Cave followed Boles’ hit with a line drive to left field, but both runners were left on base following a groundout. East left a combined eight runners on base in the final three innings.
Seivers took over on the mound for East in the fifth and sixth innings, during which time he struck out three batters and didn’t allow a hit.
West only threw five total strikeouts in Monday’s game, and two came in the top of the sixth following a single from Dawson. Davis helped counteract the strikeouts by hitting a triple that cut the lead to 14-10. Lawson and Seivers were then walked to load the bases, but a groundout left all three runners stranded.
East once again faced two quick outs in the seventh inning after its first two batters grounded out and struck out respectively. Bullington got things going with a single, then bases were loaded once again after Dawson was hit by a pitch and Keener was walked.
The game-tying run stepped up to the plate and was thrown ball one, then Johnson rifled back-to-back-to-back strikes to end the game.
West followed Monday’s victory by taking down Davidson County 11-4 on June 18, giving the team its fifth win in its past six games.
Pitching
FH East
Zach Keener — 1 IP, 1K, 3 BB, 0 HBP, 3H, 4R
Luke Woods — 1/3 IP, 0K, 0 BB, 0 HBP, 5H, 5R
Brett Moser — 2 2/3 IP, 4K, 1 BB, 0 HBP, 6H, 5R
Davis Seivers — 2 IP, 3K, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 0H, 0R
FH West
Jayle Bryant — 3 IP, 0K, 1 BB, 0 HBP, 5H, 3R
Ian Hooker — 0 IP (2 batters faced), 0K, 1 BB, 0 HBP, 1H, 2R
Landon Gallimore — 1 2/3 IP, 1K, 5 BB, 0 HBP, 2H, 4R
Landon Johnson — 2 1/3 IP, 4K, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 4H, 1R
Scoring
FH East — 0, 0, 0, 5, 4, 1, 0 — 10
FH West — 4, 7, 0, 3, 0, 0, X — 14
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