Hamlet Post 49 opens American Legion season with 7-4 victory over Liberty

RAMSEUR – Hamlet Post 49 opened the American Legion season with a 7-4 victory over Liberty Post 81 last Friday.

Hamlet closer Dillon Tilson held off a late rally with a trio of strikeouts, giving Post 49 their first win of the season with Chatham waiting in the wings Wednesday.

“I love seeing them battle back. That’s what you have to do to be a good baseball team. You have to be able to handle adversity. I think we showed today that we’re going to be able to do that,” Hamlet coach Chip Gordon said. “We pitched well, and had some timely hitting. When you do that, you’re going to win a lot of baseball games. Dillon came in and shut the door for us in the last inning. He gave up one hit. He could have gotten out of there a little earlier, but we made an error behind him. He settled down, and slammed the door for us.”

Coach Gordon attributed Liberty Post 81’s early lead to miscommunication with starting pitcher Jason Walker, who gave up Hamlet’s only earned run of the evening. Liberty then added two more runs on a sacrifice fly and a passed ball. Once Gordon and Walker got on the same page, Walker settled in, tallying three strikeouts over four innings, allowing three hits and a walk. Nearing 70 pitches in the fourth, Gordon opted for Riley Brown, who tallied a team-leading four strikeouts over two innings, then opted for Tilson in the seventh to close it out.

“A new team, a new atmosphere, so you’re going to have a little bit of nerves. We came out struggling, but then we came back and put up five. That was huge … It let me calm down,” Walker said.

A line drive by shortstop James Eason put Hamlet on the scoreboard in the second inning. Post 49 then cut Liberty’s lead to one after left fielder John Carre scored on an infield error. A grounder by second baseman Maddex Locklear, who had a team-leading two RBIs while going 2-4, scored Eason and tied the game 3-3.

“I was just looking for first-pitch fastball and was trying to put the ball on the line. I was trying to get on base, and move runners over. I got a first-pitch fastball, and I didn’t miss it,” Locklear said.

Hamlet forced the only lead change of the evening after drawing a bases-loaded walk, then first baseman Ian Hinshaw drew another bases-loaded walk to take Post 49’s lead to 5-3. From there, the game devolved into a pitcher’s dual with Brown taking the mound in the fifth.

“I was just trying to fill the strike-zone. That’s all you can do. Strikes win ballgames,” Brown said.

Hamlet added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth on a pair of singles by designated hitter Evan Hodges and Locklear. Liberty Post 81 answered with a run in the sixth inning, but could not generate enough momentum to rally back. With the win, Hamlet improves to 1-0, and will put their undefeated record on the line Wednesday against Chatham, remain on the road Thursday against Davidson County Post 8, then return to Richmond County Friday to host Chatham for the Hamlet Post 49 home opener.

“Chatham is a good team. We played them twice last year and we split with them. They are well coached, and they’re a good group of players. As long as we go up there and play our baseball, fundamental baseball, then we will be fine,” Coach Gordon said.

First pitch for all three games is set for 7 p.m.